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St. Paul's Friendships 
and His Friends 

BY 

CARL HERMON DUDLEY 

Author of "And This Is War" 




^ARTIetV6RITATI: M 



BOSTON 

RICHARD G. BADGER 

THE GORHAM PRESS 

1911 



COPYRIGHT 191 1 BY CARL HERMON DUDLEY 



All Rights Reserved ^o^'Zi*" 



ff v h 



THE GORHAM PRESS, BOSTON, U. S. A. 



©GU2Si;iG7 



TO 

MY SISTER 

SARAH DUDLEY ROBBINS 

Without whose help, inspiration 

and encouragement in years that 

have fled, this little book could 

never have been written 



In far off days thy hopes were high 

But to thy dreams thou saidst goodbye 

For an orphaned brood claimed toilsome days 

Of a spirit framed for stateliest ways 

But now they haste with glad acclaim 

To crown each victory with thy name 



FOREWORD 

OMITTING the names of Peter and John, the 
friends of Paul were men of far higher 
ability and culture than the rest of the 
Twelve. As far as the New Testament rec- 
ords permit us to judge, their lives and labors were 
more closely interwoven with the great world- 
stream of early Christian achievement and triumphs 
By this is meant that movement of Christianity 
in Apostolic times whereby, instead of continuing a 
mere Jewish sect of Judea and Galilee, it swept 
first northward to Antioch where it became Gentile 
and Missionary; then westward through Asia Minor, 
everywhere establishing churches and planting gar- 
risons; then crossed the Hellespont and overran 
Macedonia and Greece, and about the same time 
reached Rome where it became the religion of all 
civilized nations and races — cosmopolitan, imperial, 
universal. In this victorious march of Christianity 
from the gates of Antioch to the gates of the Impe- 
rial City, St. Paul was the Commander-in-Chief, his 
friends the Field Marshals and Corps Commanders. 

While it would not be at all fair or defensible to 
assume that the work of the lesser nine of the 
Apostles of our Lord was of small moment, yet very 
little is definitely known about their labors and 
achievements. 

Here, then, is a strange anomaly. We are per- 
fectly familiar with the names of the Twelve, and 
yet have only the vaguest information concerning 
their services to Christianity. On the other hand 



6 FOREWORD 

the New Testament furnishes us many references to 
the services of Paul's friends, but still the names of 
the great majority of these fall strangely on our 
ears. We deeply regret our scanty knowledge of 
the after lives of the Twelve ; but we ourselves are 
wholly to blame if we know nothing about the names 
and labors of the friends of St. Paul. 

Shall we not, then, be introduced to them one by 
one ? If so, we shall meet men well worth knowing ; 
and also at the same time get a new insight into the 
deeper things of Paul's own heart, which we can 
gain in no other way. Likewise we shall acquire 
new outlooks and vantage points whereby to con- 
template and measure his transcendent genius. 

It but remains for me gratefully to acknowledge 
my deep indebtedness to my former instructor in 
New Testament, Prof. James S. Riggs, D. D., of 
Auburn Theological Seminary, and to my classmate 
of the same institution, Rev. Harry Lathrop Reed, 
D. D., Professor of New Testament Language and 
Criticism, both of whom carefully read the manu- 
script of this work and gave me invaluable sugges- 
tions and criticisms by which I was guided in the 
final revision. 

CARL HERMON DUDLEY. 



CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

Foreword 5 

I Paul's Genius for Friendship 9 

II Barnabas — The Discoverer of St. Paul 23 

III John Mare — The Man Who Forfeited 

and Afterwards Regained the Con- 
fidence of St. Paul 51 

IV Silas — The Man St. Paul First Trained 

in Missionary Work 71 

V Timothy — Paul's Best Loved Friend... 87 

VI Luke — The Biographer of Paul 112 

VII Aquila and Priscilla — Paul's Fellow 

Craftsmen and Fellow Evangelists. 138 

VIII Apollos — The Man Whose Career 
Proves There Was No Jealously in 
Paul's Friendships 153 

IX Titus — The Most Efficient of Paul's 

Friends 174 

X Aristarchus — Paul's Friend Who Was 

But His Friend 187 

XI Epaphras — Paul's Fellow Servant and 

Fellow Prisoner 194 



CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

XII Epaphroditus — Paul's Friend Who 
Counted Not His Life Dear Unto 
Himself 202 

XIII Onesimus — The Highest Example of 

the Transforming Power of Friend- 
ship with St. Paul 211 

XIV Philemon — A Slaveholder Whom Paul 

Dared Appeal to in the Name of 
Friendship 220 

XV Tychicus — Minister of Christ and Mes- 
senger of St. Paul 236 

XVI Onesiphorus — A Friend Who Was Not 

Ashamed of Paul's Chain 246 

XVII Postscript — A Last Glance at Chris- 
tianity's Imperial Friend and Em- 
pire Builder 255 

Appendix 273 



Saint Paul's Friendships 
and His Friends 

CHAPTER I 

Paul's Genius for Friendship 

FOR 1900 years the Christian world has 
looked up to Paul as a unique and inspired 
personality. Men have studied, admired, 
marvelled, at his manysidedness. They 
have analyzed his varied gifts, — mental, moral, and 
spiritual. They have tried to estimate his influence 
as a world force. They have endeavored to con- 
ceive what Christianity would be like today had he 
never lived or never been converted; and they have 
staggered at the appalling conception. Uncounted 
volumes have been put forth in every civilized lan- 
guage dealing with special aspects of his career. 
Men have studied him as persecutor and preacher, 
as pastor and orator; they have studied him as 
author and theologian, as missionary and martyr. It 
would be difficult to discover anything new to say 
on any of these phases of his career. It would be 
well-nigh impossible to say anything on them better 
than has already been done. But not yet, even with 
all that has been said and written for 1900 years, has 
the world, in my judgment, sufficiently recognized 
Paul's genius for friendship. 

While nearly all writers have touched upon this 
phase of his character, yet none, as far as I know, 



10 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

has devoted an entire volume to its discussion; nor 
in what they have said on the topic have they lifted 
it to the summit to which its inherent worth and 
significance entitle it. They have treated his genius 
for friendship as only one among the manifold 
phases of his character. It is such, and also is some- 
thing more besides. A careful study of Paul's 
friendships and a just estimate of their rightful sig- 
nificance to him personally, and their place in his 
career during his life and after his death, sets before 
us the totality of the man, and his statesmanship as 
an organizer of churches and as one of the founders 
of Christianity, as perhaps nothing else can. 

Probably the average Bible student thinks of Paul 
in almost any other light than as the great type of 
human friend. In short, the world is wont to depre- 
ciate the humanity of the great Apostle. He is set 
on a pedestal apart from the every day feelings and 
emotions. If not regarded as originally devoid of 
such, yet it seems to be felt that the overmastering 
sway of his great mission in life dwarfed, or at least 
suppressed, the activity of his feelings as a man 
among his fellow men. He is often regarded as 
entirely "other worldly." It is thought by many, 
and not infrequently boldly stated, that he lightly 
esteemed the domestic relations, if, in fact, he did 
not put a stigma upon marriage itself. None would 
challenge his supreme love for Christ. Perhaps 
none would deny that he loved men for the sake of 
their souls; but it is apparently believed by many 
that he loved them for the sake of their souls only, 



PAUL'S GENIUS FOR FRIENDSHIP 11 

that he did not love them for their own sakes. The 
general view would appear to be that his interest in 
men as men went no farther than his desire to snatch 
them as brands from the burning. Of course there 
are many significant exceptions to this estimate of 
the Apostle; but I hazard the opinion that this is 
the average lay conception of his outlook upon men 
and life. 

Nothing could do Paul a greater injustice. No 
man ever loved his fellows more passionately for 
their own sakes. He loved men as men. No man 
in all Scripture had so many personal friends as St. 
Paul. None in all Scripture gave expression to such 
intense affection for his friends. None had friends 
among such varied nationalities, nor from such 
extremes of social gradations. None called forth 
such answering love, nor evoked such unselfish hero- 
ism and sacrifice. 

The contemplation of this aspect of his life human- 
izes our view of his imperial character; puts him 
on a plane of sympathy and feeling with our com- 
mon humanity; and, at the same time, exalts our 
-conception of his genius. Such a study will mag- 
nify our appreciation of Paul in four particulars. 

I 

It Will Reveal to Zfs the Intensity of His Domestic 

Affections 

That Paul was never married is the almost univer- 
sal assumption. The reason is generally believed to 
be his coldness toward the marriage state and domes- 



12 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

tie relationships. In my opinion nothing could be 
farther from the truth. I believe he was in many- 
ways one of the most lonely-hearted men that ever 
lived. Whether he ever distinctly analyzed the 
feeling or not, I believe his yearning for home and 
fireside was great beyond words. I believe few men 
ever lived who were capable of lavishing a tenderer 
affection upon wife and children and home. I 
regard his abstinence from marriage as one of his 
supreme sacrifices for the cross of Christ, one of the 
things included in his general statement where he 
uses this language concerning his devotion to Christ 
— ''for whom I have suffered the loss of all things." 
That Paul thoroughly considered the question of 
his own marriage is evidenced to me by his ques- 
tion — "Have not we the right to lead about a wife 
that is a believer, even as the rest of the Apostles, 
and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? Or I 
only and Barnabas, have we not a right to forbear 
working?" From these questions several conclu- 
sions may safely be drawn: that the other Apostles 
were married, and their wives accompanied them on 
their missionary journeys ; and that at times they 
rested from their labors, probably for domestic 
reasons of some kind ; that Paul did not impeach the 
right of others to marry and rest at times at home ;. 
that he claimed the same privileges for himself; 
that he seriously considered taking the step, but 
finally voluntarily exercised the higher right of lay- 
ing aside all thought of home and domestic affection 
for the sake of completer devotion to his great com- 



PAUL'S GENIUS FOR FRIENDSHIP 13 

mission. He thus became one of that class to whom 
Christ referred when he said, speaking about some 
refraining from marrying — "Not all can receive this 
saying, but they to whom it is given." Paul was 
one "to whom it was given." 

There would appear to be two specific reasons 
why Paul made the great sacrifice of foregoing 
domestic ties. One was the belief which he seems 
to have held, at least in the earlier years of his 
ministry, that Christ would speedily return to earth, 
and that the whole world ought to be evangelized 
before that great event; and, therefore, nothing; 
even though it be as sacred as family relations, 
should be permitted to interfere in the least with a 
man's giving every ounce of his strength, every 
thought of his mind, and every throb of his heart 
to the proclamation of the Gospel to those who had 
never heard it. The other reason for his abstinence 
from marriage, though I deem it less decisive than 
the above, was the continual hardships and persecu- 
tions to which missionaries were subjected and his 
certainty that marriage would entail these same 
upon wives and children ; and, therefore, it was bet- 
ter for both men and women to remain single. 

We may now consider how Paul's friendships 
reveal to us the intensity of his domestic affections 
and the gnawing emptiness which lack of home and 
wife and children made in his great yearning 
heart. We are made aware of all this by the terms 
of domestic relationships and endearments which he 
lavished upon his friends. The mother of Rufus he 



14 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

called his mother; Phebe was his sister; Quartus, 
Sosthenes, Apollos, Tychicus, Epaphroditus, and 
Philemon were his brothers; Timothy, Titus, and 
Onesimus were his * * own ' ' sons ; the Galatian Chris- 
tians were his * * little children' ' and he " travailed 
for them in birth"; he was as " gentle' ' among the 
Thessalonians "asa nurse cherishing her children"; 
he "exhorted and comforted and charged" them "as 
a father doth his children"; as his "beloved sons" 
he warned the Corinthians, for though they might 
"have ten thousand instructors in Christ" yet they 
could not have "many fathers", and he had "begot- 
ten ' ' them through the Gospel and like a father was 
"jealous" over them and wanted to "espouse them 
as a chaste virgin — to one husband, even Christ." 

And so the great Apostle with his empty home- 
loving heart transformed his friends into mothers, 
sisters, brothers, sons and daughters; and himself 
into a father, a mother, and a nurse, — begetting 
children, travailing in birth, caring for children in 
their infancy, giving daughters in marriage, sending 
sons out into the world with a father's warnings, 
counsel, and blessing. 

Let none, then, dare rise and charge Paul with 
coldness toward marriage and home. 

II 

In the Second Place the Consideration of Paul as a 
Friend Bears Witness to the Cosmopolitanism of 
His Social Sympathies and Charm 

There are few men whose friends have been chosen 



PAUL'S GENIUS FOR FRIENDSHIP 15 

from such a wide range of races, nationalities, age, 
sex, occupation, and social gradations as were Paul's. 
Perhaps no man ever had an intenser love for his 
own race and nation than did he. He gloried in the 
fact that he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, of the 
tribe of Benjamin, and of the seed of Abraham. He 
tells us that his heart's desire and prayer to God 
for Israel was that they might be saved. Once in 
his zeal for her salvation he reached a climax of 
self-abnegation attained by only one other man in all 
Scripture, and that man was Moses when, in his 
prayer for this rebellious people, he used this lan- 
guage — "Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, — 
and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of the book 
which thou hast written." Paul's self -crucifying 
love for this same people found expression in a very 
similar outburst of expression when he wrote — "I 
say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also 
bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have 
great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart. For 
I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my 
brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: who 
are Israelites ; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and 
the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the 
law, and the service of God, and the promises. ' ' Note 
the solemn thrice repeated asseveration in the first 
three clauses. And yet despite all this patriotic 
ardor of the Apostle, his friends were chosen indis- 
criminately from the three dominant races of his 
day, — Hebrew, Greek and Latin. 



16 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

Nor were his friendships confined to any one city 
or country. We find them among all cities and 
nations from the Holy City of Jerusalem to Imperial 
Rome herself. He had friends at Antioch, Tyre, 
Damascus, Lystra, Ephesus, Derbe, Berea, Thessa- 
lonica, Philippi, Athens, Colossae, Corinth, and 
Cenchrea. His friends were also found scattered 
throughout the countries of Judea, Galilee, Syria, 
Galatia, Macedonia, Greece, and Italy; and in the 
isles of Cyprus and Melita. 

The friendships of some men are largely confined 
to those of about their own age. Paul numbered 
among his friends some old enough to be his parents, 
and others young enough to be his children. Many 
men confine their friendships to men only, Paul's 
included men and women alike. 

Some find their intimates exclusively among those 
of their own handicraft or profession, Paul found 
his among men of every calling. In the list of his 
friends we find the names of missionaries like Silas 
and Barnabas; ministers like Archippus and 
Epaphras ; prophets like Agabus ; Apostles like Peter, 
James, and John ; evangelists like Philip ; officials 
such as Erastus the Chamberlain of Corinth, and 
Publius the chief man of Melita; rulers of syna- 
gogues like Crispus; soldiers like Julius the centu- 
rion; tentmakers like Aquila and Priscilla; jailers 
like the Philippian; authors like Mark and Luke; 
slaveholders like Philemon; slaves like Onesimus; 
lawyers like Zenas; physicians like Luke; and cap- 
tains of ships like the one who commanded when he 



PAUL'S GENIUS FOR FRIENDSHIP 17 

was carried a prisoner to Rome. Few have made 
friends of a wider divergence of callings and inter- 
ests, or won to themselves such a strangely assorted 
group of men. 

All this goes to prove, if proof were necessary, 
that Paul's zeal in behalf of his mission to the Gen- 
tiles and his championship of their rights and privi- 
leges in Christ and in the church, was no mere pro- 
fessional function on his part, It proves that he 
loved men as men wherever he found them, and 
whatever their race or station in life. 

Ill 

The Third Phase of the Apostle's Greatness Which Is 
Best Exemplified by a Study of His Friendships 
Is the Enduring Loyalty by Which He Bound 
Others to Himself and to His Life Mission 

We have just seen how he made friends with men 
of every land, race, and calling. That would be con- 
ceivably possible without his awakening an equal 
affection on their part. But this was not the case; 
his friends loved him with the same intensity and 
ardor as he them. What power of heart must the 
man have had, what charm and attractiveness, to 
bind such diverse elements to himself with cords 
of love that no sacrifice could sever or hardship 
weaken. And what makes this the more remark- 
able is the fact that he had nothing to give them 
except himself, his hope in the Gospel, and a share 
in his labors and dangers. Again what a testimony 



18 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

is this to his genius for friendship and to the innate 
or acquired nobility of his friends. 

Linking their lives to Paul's could bring them 
neither wealth, nor social position, nor political influ- 
ence. On the contrary it meant precisely the oppo- 
site of these things. They lived in an age abnor- 
mally devoted to the quest of riches, power, military 
fame, and sensual indulgence. Paul's friendship 
was a trumpet blast summoning men away from all 
these. His friends heard that trumpet blast — and 
they were not disobedient. Many of them were men 
of marked ability which would have given them high 
success as the world defines success. Yet despite all 
temptations to ungodliness and unbelief, despite all 
social ostracism and persecution, they heard the 
voice of a mighty friendship calling them, and they 
answered with their all. 

The elements of personal affection and tenderness 
which entered into all the various friendships of the 
Apostle can only be hinted at here. How his heart 
overflowed with joy when he greeted some friend 
back safe and sound from a long absence! How 
feverishly restless and anxious he was when sepa- 
rated from a friend, even if only for a short time! 
What pulsating words he wrote about his longing 
to see their faces again that they might comfort 
each other! How he and they wept and prayed at 
parting! What sorrow when they looked forward 
to meeting no more on earth! What beseeching let- 
ters he wrote to churches, imploring them to deal 
kindly with his friends ! What terms of endearment 



PAUL'S GENIUS FOR FRIENDSHIP 19 

he lavished upon those whom his great love crowned 
with friendship 's holy name ! 

IV 

The Fourth Thing We Note in Considering Paul's 
Friendships Is the Manner in Which These 
Underscore Our Appreciation of His Intellectual 
Supremacy 

Nothing else, perhaps, does this quite so effectually. 
We are accustomed to think of and call him great. 
And yet this has become so trite that it has lost 
much of its significance. But when we consider his 
friendships and his friends, only then do we fully 
grasp how peerless he was. 

He came into friendly relations with all the master 
minds of the first generation of the Christian Era. 
How he dwarfs them all intellectually! Not by 
pushing himself forward, but by sheer inherent abil- 
ity he everywhere and in all company speedily 
became the leader of leaders. None among the orig- 
inal Apostles can be compared to him for sweep of 
thought, depth of reasoning, or breadth of learning ; 
nor for daring adventure and constructive states- 
manship of purpose and achievement. 

He came into contact and closest friendship with 
such authors as Mark and Luke, but his own literary 
fame remains undimmed. In oratory he had such 
friendly rivals as the gracious Barnabas and the 
brilliant Apollos, but his own fame in this particular 
field is more resplendent than that of either. Titus 
was a great organizer, but Paul's achievements so 



20 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

far surpass those of Titus, or of any other man of 
the age, as to make comparison out of the question. 
Timothy was a great pastor but his work in this 
line, if compared with Paul's, pales like moonlight 
before the rising sun. Silas was a great missionary, 
but his work is all but forgotten as men gaze upon 
the monolithic glory of Paul's achievements. Philip 
was a great evangelist, but his deeds are almost 
wholly obscured by the far-shining victories of Paul. 

All these friends of the Apostle were men of great 
gifts in a particular field, gifts which would have 
secured their fame for all time had they never come 
into contact and comparison with a greater than 
they. Paul surpassed every one of them, even in 
their own particular specialty, as much as Napoleon 
did his Marshals. 

The telling of the story of Paul's friendships and 
a study of the careers of several of his friends, is 
amply justified by what has already been said. But 
all that has preceded bases the significance of this 
feature of the Apostle's character and career, upon 
reasons personal to Paul himself. The story also 
deserves telling for the sake of his friends. Paul 
we already know pretty thoroughly, his friends we 
know very little : with some of them we have a bow- 
ing acquaintance ; others we know by sight ; still 
others we scarcely know even by name. These 
things ought not so to be. Paul's friends were good 
men and true; in many ways, great men. Some of 
them were indispensable, all were important and 
useful. They had a part to play, not only in the 



PAUL'S GENIUS FOR FRIENDSHIP 21 

career and affection of St. Paul, but also in the 
founding and early success of Christianity itself. 
The story of their lives and friendship with the 
Apostle is not told merely for his sake, not merely 
to set forth the beauty and world significance of 
ideal friendship, but also to lift their names up out 
of the obscurity into which they have been thrown 
by the overshadowing fame of Peter, Paul, and 
John; to show the eminent part they played as 
preachers, pastors, missionaries, authors, organizers, 
and evangelists; and joint-founders of Gentile 
churches, joint-conquerors of Europe for Christ, and 
joint-founders of Christianity itself. 

The significance of their relation to St. Paul, apart 
from personal love and friendship, falls into three 
divisions, each of which will be duly amplified in 
subsequent chapters. All that is required at this 
time is simply to state each of the three in as few 
words as possible. 

1. Humanly speaking, it was one of Paul's 
friends who, several years after his conversion, gave 
him his first opportunity effectively to engage in his 
life work. 

2. During his entire ministry his friends were 
continually as his right arm. Never as far as we 
know did he labor with marked success any great 
length of time without the companionship of one or 
more of his intimate friends. None of his great 
churches was founded without the assistance of his 
friends. Never did he undertake a great missionary 
journey alone, though he may have done some 



22 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

evangelistic work at Tarsus and in Cilicia before his 
call to Antioch. 

3. So efficient did his friends become through his 
example, influence, and training, and by their own 
diligence, fidelity, and natural ability, that after his 
death the work of Christianity went on without 
break or pause in any church or field. 

And so for the sake of a just appreciation of the 
greatness of Paul's heart and mind, and for the 
sake of a better acquaintance with men personally 
well worth knowing, and a juster estimate of their 
indispensable services, — it seems to me that the story 
of Paul's friendships and his friends deserves a 
little volume all by itself. 



CHAPTER II 

Barnabas — The Discoverer of St. Paul 



The story of Barnabas 's career is contained in the 
following passages:— Acts 4:36-37, 9:26-27, 11:22-30, 
12:25, 13:1-52, 14:1-28, 15:1-39, 1 Cor. 9:4-6, Gal. 
2:1-13, Col. 4:10. 



IT scarcely need be stated that, in order of time, 
the first eminent friend of Paul whose 
acquaintance we should make, is Barnabas. 
Not alone for chronological reasons, however, 
but for many others as well, it is fitting that his 
name stand first in the long roll of honor. 

Perhaps it should be here stated that in these little 
biographical sketches I shall, in the title to the chap- 
ters, characterize each friend of Paul's by some 
descriptive word or clause which will bring into 
prominence a leading phase of his relationship to 
the Apostle. Only after I had decided upon the 
above heading for our study of Barnabas did I find 
that Stalker in his "Life of St. Paul," had used the 
same phrase, so I hasten to acknowledge his priority. 

I 

Barnabas, The Man 

Of the early life of Barnabas and of when and 
how be was converted, nothing is known. There is 

23 



24 SAINT PAUL'S FKIENDSHIPS 

a vague, unauthenticated tradition that he was one 
of the "Seventy" whom our Lord sent forth on an 
evangelistic tour during his own earthly ministry. 
But the fact that he is not mentioned in any of the 
four Gospels makes this more than doubtful; for a 
man of his ability would not have been likely to 
remain in the background had he been personally 
associated with Christ. Besides this, his naming 
zeal when we first make his acquaintance in the Acts 
would lead us to believe that he was a new convert, 
possibly one of the number who found Christ on the 
day of Pentecost. 

We first find Barnabas at Jerusalem already a 
Christian, one of that number who, in those early 
days, having possessions, sold them and laid the 
money at the Apostles' feet. This gives us at the 
start something of an insight into his character. His 
conversion marked the consecration of his all. 
Henceforth he himself and everything he possessed 
was to be laid on the altar of sacrifice. In this con- 
nection we are informed that he was a Levite, a 
native of the island of Cyprus ; and the inference 
is that his wealth was considerable and his social 
standing high. It later appears that he was a man 
of charming physical presence, for at Lystra when 
he and Paul were taken for gods it was he who was 
called Jupiter, evidently a tribute to his royal and 
commanding personality. 

This, however, was but one of his minor claims to 
distinction. In the graces of oratory he probably 
had but one rival among all the New Testament 



BARNABAS 25 

preachers, I refer to Apollos. So remarkable was 
his eloquence that the Apostles themselves surnamed 
him "Barnabas," that is. "Son of Exhortation" a 
name which was immediately and universally sub- 
stituted for that of Joses by which he was originally 
known. 

To magnificence of person and splendor of oratory 
were joined such irreproachable character and flam- 
ing zeal that their possessor became at once one of 
the mightiest forces of the early church. It is 
doubtful if Barnabas has, even yet, received due 
recognition for his indispensable services to Chris- 
tianity. The fame of Paul has so far overtopped his 
own that few measure the greatness that was his, or 
render him the appreciation they should. It shall 
be part of our task to isolate his resplendent name, 
count up his services, and contemplate the greatness 
of his achievements. In doing this we shall but ren- 
der him his due, and, at the same time, bring still 
another tribute to the greatness of St. Paul himself, 
whose genius tends to dwarf the fame of the eminent 
men with whom he labored, and whom, as friends, he 
took into his heart of hearts. 

II 

Barnabas f s Dominant Characteristics in His Relation 
to Other Men — The Trust He Reposed in Them 
and They in Him. 

This might be called the keynote to his character 
and career. It appears at every stage of his life. It 
was this which made him a marked man. It was 



26 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

this which made possible his splendid services. He 
acted upon this principle of confidence in his fellow 
men when the grounds for so doing were the slight- 
est ; at times, even, when it seemed unjustifiable, nay- 
more, dangerous to himself and hazardous to the 
cause for which he stood. Yet trust men he would 
and did, whatever the cost to himself, whatever the 
potential menace to his career ; and in every case his 
judgment and confidence were justified by the event. 
Thus he gave other men their opportunity in life, 
thus made Christianity forever debtor to the mag- 
nanimity of his heart and splendor of his moral 
courage. 

The first exhibition of this confidence he had in 
others and others in him, was manifested when Paul 
visited Jerusalem for the first time after his con- 
version. Already Paul had attempted to preach at 
Damascus, but had speedily been driven forth from 
the city. Coming down to Jerusalem he at once 
endeavored to join himself to the little Christian 
community in that city. But every person in it, 
including the Apostles themselves, were afraid of 
him and would have nothing to do with him. It 
looked for a time as though, not the enemies of the 
Cross, but its friends and defenders, were to render 
impossible the entrance of the new convert into the 
Christian fold and into the field of Christian ser- 
vice. All men looked askance at Paul. They sus- 
pected his motives. They feared his designs. The 
last they had known of him he was their bitterest 
foe. He had consented unto the death of Stephen 



BARNABAS 27 

and had gone to Damascus breathing forth threat- 
enings and slaughter. He had made havoc of the 
church, persecuting its members even unto strange 
cities, compelling them to blaspheme, haling them 
both men and women to the death. 

Now they would not trust his pretenses to having 
been converted. Never should the wolf which had 
scattered the flock be admitted to the inmost fold 
itself. Here then was a crisis for the new convert 
Paul. His word was disbelieved. No argument he 
could use convinced the Apostles of his change of 
heart and purpose. Apparently no man would trust 
him. Just then when all was blackest, when every 
door seemed closed in his face forever, Barnabas 
hears of the matter. He seeks out Paul, listens to 
his story, believes it and believes in Paul, takes the 
outcast by the hand and, defying public opinion, 
boldly declares in the face of all men his confidence 
in the fugitive from Damascus. And then what a 
change took place in public opinion! The Apostles 
knew Barnabas and believed in him, and on his mere 
word they received into their company and took to 
their hearts him who but a short time before had 
been their deadliest enemy. What a tribute to Bar- 
nabas 's confidence in others and to the confidence of 
others in him. Thus he became "the discoverer of 
Paul" the Christian. Later we shall see him the 
discoverer of Paul the Preacher. 

Soon after this another occasion arose which illus- 
trates the confidence the Apostles and entire Jerusa- 
lem church had in Barnabas ; a confidence both in his 



28 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

character and in his tact and ability. "Now they 
which were scattered abroad upon the persecution 
that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, 
and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to 
none but unto the Jews only. And some of them 
were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they 
were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, 
preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the 
Lord was with them : and a great number believed, 
and turned unto the Lord. Then tidings of these 
things came unto the ears of the church which was 
in Jerusalem. ' ' 

Now that piece of news caused a sensation among 
the conservative members of the Jewish Christian 
church. They were always exceedingly watchful 
and suspicious of any movement not directly under 
their own eye and supervision. They could scarcely 
trust the independent acts of their own most capable 
leaders. Whenever they heard of a work of grace 
anywhere, they always sent an investigating com- 
mittee to examine and report ; or else summoned the 
leader or leaders of such a movement to answer 
before the bar of their judgment seat. 

Philip, one of the deacons they themselves had 
ordained, later preached with marked success down 
in Samaria and conducted a great revival there. 
And we read concerning that work: "Now when 
the Apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that 
Samaria had received the word of God, they sent 
unto them Peter and John." Soon after this Peter 
himself received into the Christian fold by baptism 



BAENABAS 29 

the Gentile Cornelius and his household, and again 
we read: "And the Apostles and brethren that were 
in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received 
the word of God. And when Peter was come up to 
Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision con- 
tended with him, saying, Thou wentest in to men 
uncircumcised, and didst eat with them." What 
wonder then that there was almost a panic when the 
good people at Jerusalem not only heard that there 
was a revival at Antioch which was spreading 
among the Gentiles, but also that it had commenced 
and was going forward without the presence or 
sanction of a single deacon or Apostle from the 
mother church. Something must be done and done 
quickly. What mattered it if they did know that 
the evangelists were "preaching the Lord Jesus," 
what mattered it if they did know that ' ' the hand of 
the Lord was with them," and that "a great num- 
ber that believed turned unto the Lord." What 
mattered all this when the revival had begun with- 
out their sanction, and was continuing without their 
supervision. 

Things must not go on like that a moment longer. 
Something irregular might be done, and what com- 
pensation could there be in the contemplation of a 
multitude of conversions if some technical rule of 
order had been violated, or if the supremacy of the 
Jerusalem church was not duly recognized? They 
must forthwith send a man down to Antioch to take 
immediate charge of this irregular manifestation of 
saving grace, to guide, and, if necessary, curb the 



30 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

intemperate and overwhelmingly successful zeal of 
these unknown and unauthorized evangelists from 
Cyprus and Cyrene who " spake unto the Greeks, 
also." 

But who should be sent on such a momentous mis- 
sion? Surely their most trusted member, the man 
of greatest force of character, widest knowledge of 
men and affairs. He must be a man of tact, wisdom^ 
and firmness ; one who thoroughly understood ortho- 
dox Christianity, who was a master of men and 
affairs. They must make no mistake here. But 
who should be their choice? what man of their num- 
ber had the indispensable qualifications, the personal 
character and ability, and the universal confidence 
of the church? There were the Apostles and Dea- 
cons, should they send one or more of them? This 
would have been the most obvious thing to do. But 
evidently none of these had all of the necessary 
qualifications. There was just one man and one man 
only who filled the bill — and that man was Barnabas. 
What a tribute was this to this man's ability and 
character. Had he been sent along as a subordinate 
companion with Peter or John or Philip, it would 
have been an eminent distinction; but not only did 
the choice fall on him, but he was sent alone to> 
examine, advise, and report. 

The church at Jerusalem made no mistake. They 
never made a wiser move. They builded better than 
they knew. They, by that one act, unconsciously 
made all Christian centuries their debtors. Barna- 
bas 's mission to Antioch was big with futurity. A 



BARNABAS 31 

new chapter in the history of Christianity and of 
the world was being begun. 

As soon as Barnabas reached Antioch his broad 
charity and keen spiritual insight became immedi- 
ately apparent. He was able to perceive at once 
that it was the " grace of God" which was at work, 
though manifesting itself in a new and unexpected 
manner. He was convinced by what he saw, and 
rejoiced in it all, though it was so different from 
anything which had occurred in his previous experi- 
ence. Without a word of criticism, without the 
slightest effort to assume leadership, he immediately 
made his matchless powers of eloquence tributary to 
the success of the all-conquering sweep of the great 
revival. Nor was this his greatest service at that 
crisis hour; rather, great as it was — and great it 
must have been — it was incomparably less than the- 
service to the city and to all mankind which he soon 
afterward rendered. 

Barnabas had not been in the work long before 
two things were borne in upon him: one was that 
there was no occasion for a speedy return and report 
to the Jerusalem church ; the other was that, com- 
petent as were the present leaders of the revival, the- 
work had already as a matter of actual fact, become 
so far-reaching, and its potentialities so great, that 
there was not only room for other workers but 
imperative demand for them. There were Peter and 
John and other able and eminent men round about 
Jerusalem and Judea. It would be natural to call 
upon these. But much as Barnabas admired them 



32 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

and much as they trusted him, he knew their limita- 
tions only too well. Whom then should he secure to 
assist him? Who could measure up to the demands 
of the work and opportunity ? 

It was the judgment of Barnabas that there was 
just one man in all the world who could best serve 
his needs and the demands of the occasion ; a man who 
had without any great dignity of procedure been sur- 
reptitiously hurried out of Jerusalem some eight years 
previously, taken down to Caesarea, and there coun- 
selled to embark and retire into obscurity in his 
native city. This man had taken the counsel given. 
There was nothing else for him to do. The Apostles 
had found his presence an embarrassment, and did 
not perceive his wonderful abilities. For eight 
years little or nothing had been heard of him ; and 
though he was probably busy all this time in the 
province of Cilicia, his name was well nigh forgotten 
at Jerusalem and thereabouts. But Barnabas up in 
Antioch was now in need of a man. He knew well 
all the great leaders at Jerusalem, and he also 
remembered the outcast from Damascus whom he 
had once befriended, whose face he had once looked 
into, whose hand he had once grasped — and he knew 
him for a man. And so unknown though that name 
was to the world, untried though his abilities were. 
Barnabas trusted his own judgment in the teeth of 
the world, having perhaps kept an eye on the man's 
obscure labors about Tarsus, and so staked the suc- 
cess of the great movement at Antioch on his faith 
in the fugitive who had been induced to give up at 



BAENABAS 33 

Jerusalem and surrender all farther attempts at ser- 
vice there — and hence we read " Barnabas went 
forth to Tarsus to seek for Saul." 

In that hour God's clock struck high noon for 
early Christianity. The finding of Saul is sufficient 
fame for any one man. Had Barnabas never done 
anything before that day, had he never rendered 
any service after that hour, his name would deserve 
immortality among the honor roll of the heroes of 
the Cross. Already he had discovered Paul the 
Christian, now he discovers Paul the Preacher. He 
opens the door for the loftiest genius in the annals 
of Christianity. He unlocks the prisonhouse for one 
who has lain there bound in all but impotent silence 
for eight long weary years. 

It is needless to state that Paul joyfully responded 
to Barnabas 's appeal, and returned with him to 
Antioch. Here they both labored with masterly zeal 
and success for a whole year. 

Toward the end of this period the prophet Agabus 
came from Jerusalem to Antioch and predicted a 
famine which not long after occurred, causing 
intense distress to the little Christian community at 
Jerusalem. "Then the disciples, every man accord- 
ing to his ability, determined to send relief unto the 
brethren which dwelt in Judea ; which also they did. 
and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas 
and Saul." Here again we have a high tribute to 
the confidence everybody instantly reposed in the 
honor and ability of Barnabas. He had been in 
Antioch but a year. Other eminent workers from 



34 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

Cyprus and Cyrene had been there a longer period. 
Antioch itself was not lacking in able and efficient 
men; but when it came to choosing two men for an 
important mission, Barnabas is at once named as one 
of them, and Paul the other. Fulfilling this service 
satisfactorily to all parties concerned, they returned 
from Jerusalem to Antioch, bringing with them a 
younger relative of Barnabas, John Mark. 

By this time the church at Antioch had grown so 
strong in numbers and spirituality, and was so richly 
blessed in teachers and prophets that they could 
easily spare some of their leaders for service else- 
where. Five men seem to have had the preeminence 
in gifts of consecration and usefulness, — Barnabas, 
Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and Paul. A momentous 
event in the history of Christianity and of mankind 
was about to take place though none of the earthly 
actors in that drama had the least comprehension of 
its world-wide, time-long import. The first great 
mission of Christianity to the Gentile world was 
about to be inaugurated. There must be no mistake 
made in the human instruments who were to be so 
signally honored as to be chosen for this service. 
Heaven had been weighing, comparing, judging the 
abilities, resourcefulness, and consecration of all the 
men who professed allegiance to the Cross of Christ, 
including of course the eleven Apostles and the 
brethren of our Lord. On whom would the choice 
fall? In what men did Heaven repose the most 
implicit confidence? Listen to the simple words of 
Luke as he answers our question, as he reports an 



BARNABAS 35 

event the greatness of which had scarcely been par- 
alleled in the previous history of the world, save by 
the events connected with the early life of our Lord. 
Here is the language Luke uses in narrating that 
event — ' ' As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, 
the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and 
Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 
And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their 
hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being 
sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleu- 
cia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus." 

Every man who knew Barnabas trusted him. The 
two great churches at Jerusalem and Antioeh trusted 
him. And now evidence is at hand that all Heaven 
trusted him, we need no farther testimony as to his 
character and ability. 

And so the church at Antioeh, though only a few 
months old, had become, under the joint pastorate 
of Barnabas and Paul and others, prosperous enough 
to send financial aid to the famine-stricken sufferers 
in Jerusalem, enthusiastic and consecrated enough 
to begin the conquest of the world for Christ, and 
efficient enough to spare indefinitely its two most 
competent leaders. 

It is no part of our purpose to follow in detail the 
events of Christianity's first mission to the Gentiles. 
That has frequently been done by other and abler 
pens. Our study is of Barnabas the man and friend 
of Paul, his lofty character, and his indispensable 
services as one of the co-founders and organizers of 
that vast missionary enterprise which swept north- 



36 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

ward and westward in victorious march from the 
gates of Antioch to the gates of the Imperial City. 
It is time the name of Barnabas was made to stand 
forth in its original splendor, crowned with the 
glory of his consecration, unconscious greatness, and 
multitudinous achievements for the Cross of Christ. 

Of that first missionary journey it is sufficient to 
state that Barnabas shared all the labors, dangers, 
and persecutions that Paul himself underwent. As 
it is our purpose to record not only the separate 
services to Christianity of the friends of Paul, but 
also to show how the genius of Paul overtops the 
tallest fame of the men of his time, it should here be 
stated that great as Barnabas was in leadership and 
eloquence, he and Paul had not been far on their 
journey together before the latter, by the sheer force 
of his ability, became the indisputable leader both 
in action and speech; and hence the order in which 
their names first appeared in Luke's narrative be- 
came reversed — we no longer read of "Barnabas 
and Saul," but of "Paul and Barnabas." 

It has already been stated that in the graces of 
oratory Barnabas had but one rival among all the 
Apostles and evangelists whose names are recorded 
in the New Testament, and that that rival was the 
eloquent Apollos of Alexandria. It has also been 
noted that so powerful was Barnabas in public 
address that his real name was dropped and for- 
gotten and that of "Son of Exhortation" univer- 
sally substituted. And yet on this first missionary 
journey it was found that Paul could and did sur- 



BARNABAS 37 

pass him in his own strongest point. Certainly not 
in personal grace of manner, or rhetorical finish of 
speech; for the testimony is abundant and convinc- 
ing, both from Paul's own confessions and in the 
criticism of his enemies, that he was sadly deficient 
in these things. But in Paul's utterance there was 
such a torrent of language, such a vehemence of 
argument, such an intensity of conviction, such a 
passion of love, that he swept all before him; and 
hence his fame as an orator surpasses that of Bar- 
nabas and Apollos. And so it was that the men of 
Lystra called Paul, Mercury, because he was the 
chief speaker. 

In all the relations of these two friends, despite 
the dazzling swiftness with which Paul came to the 
front, there is not the slightest trace of jealousy on 
the part of Barnabas, though he must have been 
fully and keenly aware that as Paul increased he 
must decrease. It was a part of Barnabas 's great- 
ness that he was content to have it so. The glory 
of his Master was his one life-long joy and 
aspiration. He had given his Lord all he had to 
give; if another for whom he himself had opened 
the door of opportunity, could bring to their 
common Lord still greater gifts and consecrate a still 
mightier genius, was not that same Lord and Master 
the gainer thereby, and should not he joy and rejoice 
in it all % Ah, Barnabas, the world has little appre- 
ciated either thy greatness or thy humility. In 
worshipping the rising sun men have forgotten the 
splendors of the setting sun. But thou didst not 



38 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

care ; the rising sun reflected thy Master 's face, and 
thou wert content. 

Having preached successfully from one end of 
Cyprus to the other, and, despite deadly perils and 
opposition, having completed their first mission in 
the southeastern part of Asia Minor, Paul and 
Barnabas went down into Attalia. 

"And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they 
had been recommended to the grace of God for the 
work which they had fulfilled. And when they 
were come, and had gathered the church together, 
they rehearsed all that God had done with them, 
and how he had opened the door of faith unto the 
Gentiles. And there they abode long time with the 
disciples. And certain men which came down from 
Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be 
circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot 
be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had 
no small dissension and disputation with them, they 
determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain 
other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the 
Apostles and elders about this question. And being 
brought on their way by the church, they passed 
through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the con- 
version of the Gentiles : and they caused great joy 
unto all the brethren. And when they were come 
to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and 
of the Apostles and elders, and they declared all 
things that God had done with them. But there 
rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which 
believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise 



BARNABAS 39 

them, and to command them to keep the law of 
Moses. And the Apostles and elders came together 
for to consider of this matter. ' ' 

At this Council, the greatest in the Apostolic age 
and one of the most important, if not the most 
important of all, in the entire history of Christian- 
ity, Paul and Barnabas stood shoulder to shoulder 
in defense of the rights, privileges, and immunities 
of the Gentile converts ; and it is not too much to 
say that it was owing to the efforts of these powerful 
friends that Christianity in that hour became a 
world religion instead of continuing longer a mere 
Jewish sect. Here then is another service of Barna- 
bas to Christianity and to mankind. And if we may 
judge by the order in which, in this now exceptional 
instance, the names of the two men stand, we must 
believe that on this one occasion Barnabas was more 
persuasive and influential than Paul, for we read 
that "all the multitude kept silence and gave audi- 
ence to Barnabas and Paul." 

The questions at issue being settled in accordance 
with the views of these two men, James, the brother 
of our Lord, and probably the President of the 
Council, put in formal language the decision arrived 
at. This was to be communicated both in writing 
and orally to the Gentile converts in Antioch, Syria, 
and Cilicia. Again the church at Jerusalem showed 
its confidence in Barnabas by entrusting him 
together with Paul and two of its own members, 
with the mission of making known to all Gentile 
churches the decision of the Council. 



40 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

III. 

Separation of Paul and Barnabas. 

Returning to Antioch. with the circular letter from 
the Council at Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas and 
their two companions from the mother church, im- 
mediately made its contents known, to the great joy 
of the Christian community where they had so long 
and faithfully labored together. That done, again 
these friends plunged enthusiastically into the work 
of the local church, preaching and teaching, and 
continued so doing for a time. 

"And some days after, Paul said unto Barnabas, 
Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city 
where we have preached the word of the Lord, and 
see how they do. And Barnabas determined to take 
with them John, whose surname was Mark. But 
Paul thought not good to take him with them, who 
departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not 
with them to the work. And the contention was so 
sharp between them, that they departed asunder 
one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, 
and sailed unto Cyprus." 

The discussion of this painful incident though 
appropriate to this place, will be postponed for the 
present but will be fully treated in the next chapter 
which deals with the career of another of Paul's 
friends — this same John Mark. Suffice it to say at 
this time, that though the dispute separated Barna- 
bas from Paul and thus shut the former out of the 
joy and opportunity of revisiting old friends and 



BAENABAS 41 

churches in Cilicia and elsewhere, and also shut him 
out of the association with Paul in the latter "s 
second missionary journey, it did not interfere with 
his continued loyal service to his Master. 

It is not known that the two men ever met again, 
and it is not believed that they did. This, however, 
cannot be proved, and in any case must not be 
construed as meaning that either of them cherished 
unkindly feelings toward the other for any length 
of time. Both were too great as men and too mag- 
nanimous as Christians, to harbor ill feelings or 
cherish resentment against a fellow soldier of the 
Cross, especially against their hearts' best brother 
with whom they had so many tender memories in 
common, with whom they had hazarded their lives- 
in a cause sacredly enthroned in the souls of both. 

Fortunately we are not left entirely to conjecture 
in this matter. In later years in one of his letters 
Paul makes a kind reference to Barnabas, in which 
he classes himself with his old friend in direct con- 
trast with the course pursued by the Apostles and 
brethren of the Lord ; implying in what he says that 
Barnabas was still actively engaged in missionary 
work and, like himself, was self-supporting. 

After his seperation from Paul Barnabas entirely 
fades from view in the Acts, his name not again 
being mentioned. He is referred to but three times 
in the subsequent books of the New Testament, all 
three references being found in the letters of Paul; 
but in each case the reference is purely casual. It 
would be a great mistake, however, to assume either 



42 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

that he was idle, or that his work was of little con- 
sequence. In fact, we have already seen that Paul 
implies directly the contrary in one of his allusions 
to his old-time comrade in arms. 

The silence of Acts as to what Barnabas 's subse- 
quent labors were, no more discredits him than does 
its silence about the life mission of the Eleven 
Apostles discredit them, none of whose names are 
more than mentioned save those of Peter, John, and 
James, and these, too, fade utterly from view at 
about the same time as does Barnabas. The only 
inference we are permitted to draw is that the sub- 
sequent labors of Barnabas, like those of the 
Apostles, fell outside the plan of Luke in writing 
Acts ; that is, the story of the victorious march of 
Christianity from bigoted Jerusalem to Imperial 
Rome, where Luke leaves Paul triumphant in his 
chains, receiving all who came unto him " preaching 
the kingdom of God, and teaching those things 
which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all con- 
fidence, no man forbidding him." 

IV 

The One Recorded Mistake of Barnabas' s Entire 

Career 

By this I do not refer to his championship of 
John Mark and his subsequent separation from Paul. 
In that matter I do not hold him blameworthy. But 
there is one mistake of Barnabas which cannot be 
explained away and which no apology or defense is 
sufficient to cover. The record of this is found in 



BARNABAS 43 

Paul's letter to the Galatians where he writes as 
follows: — "But when Peter was come to Antioch, I 
withstood him to the face, because he was to be 
blamed. For before that certain came from James, 
he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they were 
come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing 
them which were of the circumcision. And the other 
Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that 
Barnabas also was carried away with their 
dissimulation." 

This was a very grave error on the part of Barna- 
bas. His fault could not have been due to moral 
cowardice for he was not a moral coward. This was 
sufficiently proved when he came to the defense of 
Paul in the face of the suspicious brethren and 
Apostles at Jerusalem. His fault was not due to 
physical cowardice, for already he had shown him- 
self a brave man by facing death unafraid in many 
a hostile city. Nor was his fault due to an error of 
judgment, for he had long been a missionary to the 
Gentiles and one of the most fearless champions of 
their Christian privileges that the early church had, 
ranking with Paul himself in this particular. How 
then was he induced to withdraw for a time from 
tables where Gentiles were present? I can think of 
but two possible reasons, neither of which reflects 
any credit on this great and good man. It may 
possibly have been due to the pressure of Peter and 
other close friends from the old and dear, but nar- 
row and bigoted, mother church at Jerusalem; or 
it may have been due to the cropping out now and 



44 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

then of the old inborn, ineradicable prejudice of 
the Jew against eating with a Gentile, notwith- 
standing the fact that he was their redoubtable 
champion in all that concerned their Christian rights 
and privileges. He may have been led to believe 
that the question of eating with them was solely a 
private matter which would concern no one in par- 
ticular; if so, he was certainly mistaken as the 
clearer-sighted Paul quickly demonstrated. But on 
this whole subject we ought to judge Barnabas by 
the standards, prejudices, and training of his own 
day, not by the greater liberality of our own. 
Measured in this way we shall see his conduct as a 
whole in his relation to the Gentiles, in a broader 
and fairer light; we shall see that he was in all 
probability the broadest-minded Jewish convert of 
his day save only St. Paul himself. 

But even in Paul's censure of his conduct on this 
one occasion, there is an indirect and very signifi- 
cant compliment paid to his attitude toward the 
Gentiles as uniformly manifested during all his 
previous career. The very language of Paul's cen- 
sure shows his surprise and amazement that a man 
of Barnabas 's well known firmness and liberality 
should have wavered even once. This also indirectly 
reveals to us the force of the social pressure which 
must have been brought to bear upon him to swerve 
him from his previous course. 

After all that can be said to magnify this one 
failure of Barnabas, it was yet but a trivial and 
temporary matter that scarcely rose to the dignity 



BARNABAS 45 

of a moral issue; and I have sometimes been sorry 
that Paul referred to it at all, for it is the last time 
but one that Barnabas 's name occurs in the New 
Testament, and the very last which tells us anything 
about Barnabas himself, so we are in danger of being 
left with a final rather unpleasant impression of a 
man who otherwise would wholly challenge our 
admiration. 

I scarcely believe Paul would have mentioned the 
matter had he foreseen that his hasty letter to the 
churches of Galatia, called forth by a dire temporary 
crisis, would be preserved and read by all Christen- 
dom to the end of time. Paul's purpose in the 
reference is perfectly clear and perfectly justifiable. 
His own Apostolic standing and authority were 
being called in question, and were in extreme 
jeopardy; and hence it was necessary for him to 
defend himself and his position by every available 
argument, not for any mere personal reasons, but for 
the sake of his divine mission and for the sake of the 
future liberty and well-being of Gentile believers to 
all time. So we cannot censure him for referring as 
he does to Peter and Barnabas. But like many 
another letter-writer, Paul had no conception how 
his words and utterances would go ringing down 
the centuries for weal or woe, for the exalting or 
belittling of his friends and contemporaries. 

And yet perhaps it is as well that we should know 
that even Barnabas, the great preacher and mission- 
ary, was human like the rest of us, and not exempt 
from some of the frailties that afflict his fellowmen. 



46 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

But however great we may deem this one mistake 
it was not greater than that of John, "the beloved 
disciple, ' ' who wanted to call down fire from heaven 
and destroy a Samaritan village, thus bringing upon 
himself the stern rebuke of Christ. Nor was Barna- 
bas 's fault greater than that of Paul himself in his 
uncharitable course toward John Mark; it was 
trivial in comparison with Peter's denial of his 
Lord; and, at most, it weighs little when set over 
against the catalog of his private virtues and public 
services. Let us now briefly review and summarize 
these. 

V 

The Character and Services of Barnabas — 
A Recapitulation 

We have already made quite a full survey of 
Barnabas as a man, a Christian, and a preacher ; and 
also endeavored to point out his special importance 
and mission, not only to the early church, but also 
to all after ages of Christian history; but it is well 
before we part company with such a noble man, to 
gather up in a few paragraphs a summary of all he 
did and was, that the scattering information and 
impressions we have received may stand forth in 
our thoughts in their original and deserved strength 
and lustre. 

In the gifts which attract men's admiration Bar- 
nabas was richly endowed by nature, having the 
form and brow of a Jove, a voice and delivery that 
charmed the ear and convinced the conscience and 



BARNABAS 47 

judgment; in character, he was "a good man;" in 
spirituality, ' ' full of the Holy Ghost and of faith ; ' ' 
in consecration, he laid his money, his time, his 
life, on the altar of sacrifice; in moral courage he 
was sublime, championing the dreaded Saul when all 
men were passing by on the other side. Of physical 
courage he was a noble example, facing peril and 
death in scores of hostile cities; he was charitable 
toward others' weaknesses, loyal when they failed 
and men distrusted them, stood by them whatever 
the cost to self in opportunity or friendship. He 
was a swift reader of character, an unerring dis- 
cerner of unknown and unproven ability; he trusted 
other men and believed in the final kingship of their 
better qualities despite all previous exhibition and 
triumph of their less worthy natures ; he was a 
stranger to jealousy however far those whom he 
had befriended and given their chance, might sur- 
pass him in fame, popularity, and achievement. All 
churches and all men believed in him and trusted 
him to the full and to the end. The great Jewish 
Christian church at Jerusalem trusted him on the 
weightiest occasions : the great Gentile Christian 
church at Antioch committed to him a most critical 
mission in their behalf, even their own standing 
within the pale of Christianity itself: the Apostles 
and brethren of our Lord, Paul and Mark, all alike 
trusted his integrity and ability. The Holy Spirit 
trusted him and committed unto him jointly with 
St. Paul the inauguration of the first foreign mis- 
sionary movement for the conquest of the world for 



48 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

Christ. He twice opened a door for St. Paul, and 
reopened it for St. Mark — he was the discoverer of 
Paul and the restorer of Mark. With Paul and 
others in a year's time he brought the church at 
Antioch up to such a state of efficiency that it could 
undertake world-wide evangelization. He twice 
traversed the island of Cyprus on missionary 
tours, and once the southern provinces of Asia 
Minor. He was one of the chief men in settling for 
all time the position of the Gentile converts within 
the Christian fold; and the last glimpse we catch of 
him, he is still the self-supporting missionary as 
eager for new laurels for his Master's brow as in 
those far-off days when, towering head and shoul- 
ders above the original Apostles in the splendors of 
his enkindled oratory, he, a stranger from Cyprus 
and alien born, won in a moment, in the very heart 
of the Holy City, that immortal designation — "Son 
of Exhortation." 

Without disparagement to any of Barnabas 's 
other services — and none of them can be disparaged 
— it may safely be said that the greatest of all was 
his discovery of Paul and his introduction of that 
Apostle to the church and work at Antioch. God 
might have used other men or instrumentalities for 
achieving this; but the fact remains that he did 
not do so. God might have used another man or 
instrumentality to achieve the work done by Moses ; 
but this does not detract from the greatness of 
Moses nor from the unique significance of his career. 
God might have used another man than John the 



BARNABAS 49 

Baptist as the forerunner of Christ; but this does 
not detract from the glory of the mission and priv- 
ilege which were John's. So likewise is it true of 
the mission of Barnabas; but God did not use 
another man to introduce Paul, he did use Barnabas, 
and so in the providence of God it was this man 
who opened the door for Paul and gave him his 
opportunity in life. 

This honor alone would be sufficient laurels for 
the brow of any man had he rendered no other 
service to mankind, as it is sufficient to know of 
Andrew that he led Peter to Christ. How much 
direct value the friendship of Paul was to Barnabas 
we may not say; but certain it is that, humanly 
speaking, the friendship of Barnabas was indispen- 
sable to Paul. 

If in these studies we are constantly to keep before 
us not only the individual fame, services, and ability 
of Paul's friends, but also use them to gain a 
perspective for estimating the overtowering great- 
ness of Paul himself, then we must hasten to confess 
that great as was Barnabas in all the essential 
qualities of permanent renown, yet the younger 
Paul easily surpassed him in almost every particular 
save in the qualities of heart and character. Barna- 
bas was a man of wonderful talent, Paul was a man 
of transcendent genius — and this forever marks the 
distinction between the two. 

Though we may be awed and overwhelmed by 
the solitary and awful grandeur of the mountain 
whose summit is lost above the clouds, it is no reason 



50 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

why we should disparage or neglect those whose 
lower but still massive and lofty brows concentrate 
and reflect the splendor of the noonday sun — and 
such a mountain peak was Joses surnamed Barna- 
bas, "the Son of Exhortation. ' ' 



CHAPTER III 

John Mark — The Man Who Forfeited and Afterwards 
Regained the Confidence of St. Paul 



The story of Mark's career is based upon the fol- 
lowing passages: — Acts 12:12 and 25, Acts 13:5 and 
13, 15 :36-39, Col. 4 :10, 2nd Tim. 4 :11, Philemon 1 :24, 
1st Peter 5:13, and the Gospel by Mark. 



HAVING completed our study of Barnabas, 
Paul's first great friend, we naturally 
take up next the story of Barnabas 's 
relative, John Mark. It is here assumed 
that the Mark of Acts and of Paul 's epistles, and the 
Marcus of Peter's letter, and the author of the sec- 
ond Gospel are one and the same person. 

Most Bible students are familiar with the details 
of the life and character of the author of the 
fourth Gospel; but few have a close acquaint- 
ance with the life history of the other three. Of 
Matthew it is impossible to learn much, but ignor- 
ance of the lives of Luke and Mark is inexcusable. 
In our studies of Paul's friends we shall make a 
close acquaintance with both as far as the New 
Testament lends us its aid. They are men worth 
knowing for the services they rendered to Chris- 

51 



52 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

tianity, for the manner in which their lives are 
interwoven with the life of their friend Paul, and 
also because of their own inherent worth and attrac- 
tiveness as men and Christians. 

I. 

Our First Meeting with John Mark 

Mark is not once mentioned in any of the four 
Gospels, and there is no conclusive evidence that 
he ever saw Christ. We are first introduced to him 
in the Acts where we learn that after the angel had 
delivered Peter from prison "he came to the house 
of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was 
Mark; where many were gathered together pray- 
ing.' ' 

From this it may be inferred that Mark was 
reared in a devout Christian home ; that his mother 
was prominent in the early Christian circles; and 
that, if a widow, she was a woman of some property, 
as her house was spacious enough to accommodate a 
large gathering. 

Nothing is told us concerning Mark's conversion, 
but as Peter seems to have been an intimate of the 
home and in after years speaks of Mark as his 
"son," the inference is possibly warranted that he 
was led to Christ by Peter, for Paul often spoke of 
his spiritual children as his "sons." In Colossians 
we learn that Mark was a relative of Barnabas, 
probably a younger cousin. 



JOHN MARK 53 

H 

Mark Causes a Rupture Between Barnabas and Paul. 

Mark's first recorded association with Barnabas 
and Paul is his trip with them to Antioch on their 
return from Jerusalem after they had distributed 
to the poor of the mother church the alms which 
had been collected in the church where they were at 
the time jointly laboring. 

Not long after the arrival of the three at Antioch, 
the Holy Spirit summoned Barnabas and Paul to go 
forth on their first missionary journey to the Gen- 
tiles; and we read "they had also John to their 
minister." Just what was the nature of his duties 
we are not informed; whether he simply looked after 
their material comfort, or was also a helper in their 
evangelistic efforts, is uncertain, probably he did 
both. Together the three men traversed the islacd 
of Cyprus, Barnabas and Paul everywhere preaching ; 
but when that work was finished and they crossed 
over to the mainland a simply told, but, as the out- 
come proved, a very significant event transpired. 
The historian of Acts merely states — "Now when 
Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they 
came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing 
from them returned to Jerusalem." No explanation 
whatever of Mark's course is anywhere vouchsafed 
to us, but the consequences of this desertion were 
far-reaching as they bore on the interrelations of 
the three men. 



54 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

Conjecture has always been rife in the efforts 
made to explain Mark's defection. No satisfactory 
conclusion has been generally adopted. The least 
charitable view of all is that it was due to sheer 
cowardice on his part as the company faced the 
perils of missionary enterprise among hostile 
peoples. Scarcely less unworthy are the suggestions 
that perhaps he was jealous for Barnabas 's sake as 
he saw Paul assuming the leadership of the expe- 
dition, or that he was opposed to missions among 
the Gentiles. The most charitable view is that the 
original plans of the three merely included the 
touring of Cyprus, but when it was determined to 
extend the journey indefinitely it was impossible 
for Mark longer to absent himself from his native 
city, and so, perforce, he had to return to Jerusalem. 
When he left there with Barnabas and Paul he ex- 
pected to go no farther than to Antioch, no mission- 
ary journey then having entered into the minds or 
plans of either Paul or Barnabas ; so already he had 
been absent much longer than he originally expected 
to be, having continued with his friends during all 
their evangelization of Cyprus. Now it would be 
easy to accept this latter conjecture as the true one 
were it not for the fact that afterwards Paul held 
Mark exceedingly blameworthy for his conduct, and, 
therefore, unless we charge Paul with being entirely 
unreasonable, we must assume that Mark was not 
justified in deserting the expedition. 

Hence it has never been possible for Mark's most 
ardent admirers wholly to clear his name from the 



JOHN MARK 55 

stigma of lack of courage and consecration on this 
particular occasion. Here was the one great mistake 
of his career as Barnabas was to make his one great 
mistake — a mistake we have already considered. In 
deserting Barnabas and Paul, Mark was deserting 
the Cross of Christ in the presence of danger; and, 
doing so, he forfeited the honor and privilege of 
sharing unto the end the work of the first world 
missionary enterprise. He missed an opportunity 
that can never again recur in the history of mankind. 

This act of his also caused the severance in the 
relations of Barnabas and Paul. Sometime after the 
triumphant return to Antioch of these two heralds 
of the Cross, Paul proposed to Barnabas that 
together they revisit all the churches they had 
founded. Barnabas agreed, but insisted upon again 
taking Mark with them. Paul peremptorily refused 
because he thought "not good to take him with 
them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and 
went not with them to the work." Barnabas re- 
mained firm. Paul was no less so, and so they 
parted — never to meet again. 

Pitiful as this quarrel and separation was, it yet 
had in it heroic elements. I believe each man was 
actuated by what he considered the highest motives, 
and we therefore catch a glimpse of the heroic mold 
in which each was cast. Deeply as they loved each 
other, profoundly as each must have reverenced the 
ability of the other, yet each was ready to sacrifice 
earth's holiest friendship to his sense of loyalty to 
something more sacred still — allegiance to his sense 



56 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

of duty, to conscience enthroned and supreme. The 
entire careers of these men refute the charge that 
they could be actuated by base motives or passions. 
Barnabas always thought of self last, or, rather, he 
never thought of self at all. He never shunned the 
face of danger or sought personal advancement; he 
never hesitated to take a subordinate position or 
clung to privilege or property, even when these were 
rightfully his. All this was equally true of Paul. 
The greatest glory of their Lord was the one con- 
trolling motive of both their lives. Hence any 
criticism of their conduct in this crisis hour must be 
a criticism of their judgments, not an arraignment of 
the purity of their motives, or the consecration of 
their hearts. 

As the occasion of their separation and its bear- 
ings on the subsequent careers of each as well as its 
significance to the later life and character of Mark 
himself, are still moot points of discussion, it may 
not be out of place here briefly to recapitulate the 
arguments of various authors both for and against 
the conduct of the two chief actors in the drama. 
I believe the majority of writers are inclined to 
endorse the position maintained by Paul. I am 
unable to agree with them. 

In defense of Paul's attitude three strong argu- 
ments are urged: that his own uncompromising 
courage made it difficult, if not impossible, for him 
to believe in the sincerity of one less brave; that 
Paul could not read Mark's future nor measure his 
inherent worth, and, as far as he knew, Mark might 



JOHN MARK 57 

turn out another Iscariot ; that it was not a personal 
matter with Paul at all, nor a question of treating 
Mark as a brother in Christ, but a question of again 
making a foreign missionary of one who had already 
failed as such, and had given, as yet, no sufficient 
proof of a radical change. All these arguments are 
weighty and must be accorded their due importance. 

Against Barnabas 's position there are two argu- 
ments neither of which is it easy wholly to refute. 
It is argued that Barnabas would have put in 
jeopardy the success of the entire mission had Mark 
been allowed to accompany them a second time. 
This was a real and obvious danger. Paul's whole 
attitude was based upon his fear that such would 
be the case. It is also argued that Barnabas, con- 
sciously or unconsciously, was influenced by his kin- 
ship with Mark. This insinuation cannot be proven, 
and even if it could, I am not sure but that it brings 
closer to us the human nature of Barnabas. I am 
not sure but we would think less even of so great an 
Apostle as he, if his heart was indifferent to the ties 
of kinship. 

Now what may be said against Paul's attitude 
toward Mark? It is said by some that he showed a 
harsh and unforgiving spirit ; that every man stands 
in need of the patience and forbearance of his 
Maker, and should show the same to his fellow men ; 
that such an attitude as Paul's would discourage all 
who had once failed from ever attempting to retrieve 
their past ; that Christ trusted Peter after his denial ; 
that Paul himself once stood in need of that same 



58 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

sympathy and trust on the part of Barnabas which 
the latter was now extending and Paul withholding 
from Mark. 

We have already seen what can be said against 
Barnabas 's position, now what can be said in its 
defense? First, the fact that Mark was ready to 
accompany Barnabas and Paul into those very same 
dangerous regions from the approach to which he had 
once fled, makes the assumption warrantable that 
he had expressed his deep regret for his former con- 
duct and given every possible verbal assurance of 
loyalty for the future. When Paul was converted 
and did this same thing, Barnabas believed in him in 
the teeth of universal doubt, suspicion, and fear. 
Now he does the same thing in the case of Mark. 
True to his own lofty nature, he had an abiding 
faith in the nobler qualities of other men — a faith 
never betrayed. He believed in forgiving and over- 
looking Mark's error, and that charity, not severity, 
would inspire and encourage the former delinquent. 
Again it may fairly be argued that Barnabas was a 
close student of human nature and that he read other 
men more profoundly than did most of his contem- 
poraries even including Paul himself, and that as he 
had formerly seen in Paul what other men could not 
see, so now he saw in Mark what Paul could not. 

But whatever may be said for or against either 
man's position, I think it can be successfully main- 
tained that the attitude of each was dictated solely 
by his nobler qualities, not by ignoble ones — that 
Paul was afraid of jeopardizing the Lord's work, 



JOHN MARK 59 

that Barnabas was eager to save the man. Which 
was right in this particular instance the sequel alone 
will show. 

Ill 

The Results Which Flowed from the Separation of 
Barnabas and Paul 

As neither man would surrender his convictions, 
and as compromise was impossible to such staunch 
and stalwart natures, we are informed that "the 
contention was so sharp between them, that they 
departed asunder one from the other : and so Barna- 
bas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus; and Paul 
chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by 
the brethren unto the grace of God. ' ' Which friend 
was in the right in this unhappy dissension the after 
story of Mark's life will answer. Perhaps when all 
has been said on the controversy, it was yet the 
intention of Providence that the men should not con- 
tinue together any longer. Each was now perfectly 
capable of directing an independent mission, and of 
training up other men to be independent leaders and 
their own successors; so their separation meant two 
missionary parties instead of one, and the enlisting 
of new recruits on the part of Paul. 

But let us for the present follow Barnabas and 
Mark to Cyprus. At once however we are con- 
fronted with the fact that we are told absolutely 
nothing about their work there. Why is this? Sev- 
eral answers might be given to this question: that 
Luke knew nothing of its details ; that it was wholly 



60 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

unimportant; or, perhaps, which is most probable, 
that whatever Barnabas and Mark achieved in 
Cyprus their work was outside the scope of Luke's 
plan in writing Acts, which was to portray the lead- 
ing events in the victorious westward rolling tide 
of Christian conquests as the soldiers of the Cross 
swept ever on toward the coasts of Europe, ever 
hearing the West acalling as the setting sun sank 
low over the waters of the Mediterranean, the 
Aegaean, and the Adriatic. 

Now it is assumed by some that Mark went to 
Cyprus with Barnabas to comfort the latter over his 
separation from Paul which had been incurred on 
his, Mark's, account. I believe exactly the opposite. 
I believe that Barnabas took Mark for Mark's sake 
to prove unto the uttermost his confidence in his 
assurances of fidelity for the future. 

As Barnabas at this point entirely disappears 
from authentic history, it is quite common to speak 
slightingly of this trip to Cyprus, to regard it as the 
final fiasco of a once apparently sterling career. It 
is regarded as marking the obscuration of Barnabas, 
the climacteric failure and folly of his life, as he 
thereby cut himself off from all future association 
with the Apostle to the Gentiles. The latter fact 
is of course true. The other charges need investi- 
gating. As to farther association with Paul, that 
was no longer necessary for he had already done 
his work for the latter in opening the door of oppor- 
tunity at Antioch and starting him on a missionary 
career in his own native isle. 



JOHN MARK 61 

Now though we are told nothing of what tran- 
spired during Barnabas 's and Mark's stay in Cyprus, 
we are not therefore cut off from all reasonable con- 
jecture. In fact, we may go beyond conjecture and 
rest on assured grounds of fact. If it were certain 
that Barnabas never achieved anything afterwards, 
if it were known that he died at the close of that 
mission, instead of his life having been snuffed out 
in obscuration I should regard it as having departed 
in a blaze of glory. Note the uncontrovertible facts 
in the case as far as they concern John Mark. The 
last thing we learned about him before this second 
Cyprus mission, was his flight from the work at 
Pamphylia. Ever after this trip with Barnabas we 
find him among the bravest of the brave, defying 
every danger in his loyalty to the Cross, and ren- 
dering incalculable service to the cause of Christ. 
"What transformed John Mark, the craven, into John 
Mark, the Christian gladiator? There is but one 
possible answer — it was the great-hearted Barnabas 
there on the island of Cyprus; his belief in the 
repentant 's confessions and promises, his soothing 
and healing counsels, his companionship and friend- 
ship during the unknown and unheralded days or 
years in Cyprus. And yet we are told noth- 
ing is known of that insignificant mission! Noth- 
ing known? Insignificant mission? Knowing that 
it was the saving of John Mark for Christ and 
His work, nothing more need be known. Had 
Barnabas never rendered a single previous ser- 
vice to his Lord and his church, this alone should 



62 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

immortalize his name. It was the saving of Mark 
for life-long missionary service ; it was the saving of 
Mark for the authorship of the first written biography 
of our Lord which has come down to us — a service to 
all the generations yet to be; it was the saving of 
Mark for after years of companionship and co-oper- 
ation with Paiil himself and with Peter. If Barna- 
bas retired to Cyprus solely for Mark's sake, if he 
achieved only Mark's restoration, yet even so he 
builded better than he knew and again made all 
Christianity his debtor. 

We have already called Barnabas "the discoverer 
of St. Paul. " To this title of honor may now be 
added another, he may also be called "the restorer 
of St. Mark." If Barnabas had frowned upon him 
and refused him Christian fellowship and associa- 
tion as Paul seems to have done for a season, there 
is little likelihood that he would have become the 
victorious warrior and graphic writer that he after- 
wards was. It was Barnabas who gave Paul his 
chance and who trusted Mark and called to his 
deeper and truer self after his notorious failure, and 
who, therefore, humanly speaking, opened the doors 
of usefulness to these two giants of the early church. 

So we come again to our question asked so often 
and so often summarily answered in Paul's favor — 
who was right in the dispute which separated him 
from Barnabas. By the foregoing discussion that 
question, I believe, has already been answered satis- 
factorily for every fair-minded reader. In this one 



JOHN MARK 63 

instance at least, Barnabas showed himself a man of 
broader charity and deeper insight than Paul. 

IV 

Mark's Reconciliation with Paul 

It is a matter of the greatest satisfaction to every 
Christian to know that Paul's rupture with Mark 
was only temporary. A few years later we find 
them completely reconciled; and not only that, but 
the most intimate and loyal friends and co-workers. 
When and how the reconciliation took place, and 
who made the first advances, it is impossible to say. 
But the fact of the restoration of their former cor- 
dial relations seems to prove several things : that 
Mark cherished no vindictive resentment against 
Paul for his rather harsh treatment ; that he had 
soon given such overwhelming proof of his courage 
and loyalty to Christian service that Paul no longer 
had any doubts in regard to his trustworthiness ; 
and, finally, it seems to prove conclusively that 
Paul's rejection of him as a companion for his sec- 
ond missionary enterprise was not personal in its 
nature, but doubt of his fitness for hazardous ser- 
vice. 

In Paul's letters to the Colossians and Philemon, 
written from his prison in Rome at about the same 
time, he pays a touching tribute to his love for 
Mark, and to the latter 's helpfulness to him in 
Christian work. Mark was with Paul at the time 
in Rome. 



64 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

What a transformation in the man since we first 
knew him. Once he had fled from the face of merely 
anticipated dangers at Pamphylia, now he is stand- 
ing beside a despised prisoner of the Cross, defying 
the terrors of Caesar and Imperial Rome herself. 
Paul writes of him to the Colossians as one of his 
three staunch Jewish friends who, despite all the 
terrors of his situation, were fearlessly standing by 
him as fellow workers, and were a comfort unto 
him. It also appears that Mark was at the time con- 
templating a missionary journey to Asia Minor in 
the near future and might visit Colossae; and that 
Paul had already by letter or messenger commended 
him to their hospitality. 

Two or three years later at the time of Paul's 
second Roman imprisonment and just before his 
death, which he already foresaw as imminent, he 
wrote to Timothy, who was probably at Ephesus, 
summoning him to come to Rome with all possible 
speed and to pick up Mark on the way and bring 
him along also for he "was profitable unto him for the 
ministry." Only Luke was with Paul at the time. 
In his dying hour the old warrior wanted Mark with 
his other two warmest friends, Luke and Timothy, 
to be with him and give him comfort. This request 
of Timothy indicates that he and Mark were in 
touch with each other's movements; that Mark 
had carried out his intended missionary jour- 
ney referred to by Paul in his letter to the Colos- 
sians ; that both were working under the general di- 
rection or supervision of Paul ; that Mark had given 



JOHN MARK 65 

such proof of his courage by his presence with Paul 
during his first imprisonment that the Apostle knew 
no terrors of death would now keep him from 
hastening to his side in the extremity of his peril; 
and, above all else, it shows the tenderness of the 
bonds that now knit their hearts together. 

Though we have no means of knowing, there can 
be little doubt that Timothy and Mark hastened to 
Rome and were with Paul in his last days, even 
unto his dying hour. 

V 

Mark and St. Peter 

We have already seen how Mark 's childhood home 
at Jerusalem was a center for Christian influence 
and gatherings ; and that Peter when released from 
prison, at once turned his steps thitherward. Some 
years later Mark's relation to this Apostle was re- 
newed for the blessing of all mankind. Just when 
this occurred is uncertain; but probably it took 
place at the close of Mark's second journey to 
Cyprus in the company of Barnabas, perhaps the call 
came to him while still in the island. At all events 
it was probably before his reconciliation with St. 
Paul. 

Peter was at the time laboring in Rome. He 
sorely needed an assistant and amanuensis. None 
could better fill the position than his spiritual son, 
John Mark, child of the godly home of Mary, one 
already trained in missionary service by such men 
as Paul and Barnabas. Peter sent his summons 



66 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

across the seas. Mark heard the West acalling. 
Barnabas had trusted him, Peter trusts him, he now 
knew and trusted himself, and eagerly he responded, 
hastening to Peter's side. Peril and persecution 
and hardship had lost all terror for him forevermore. 
He arrived at the Imperial City and there labored 
with St. Peter. For how many years, is entirely un- 
known. 

Peter's first letter was undoubtedly written from 
Rome. It is addressed to "the strangers scattered 
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and 
Bithynia," and contains the saluations of Mark who 
was with Peter in Rome at the time of its writing. 
These greetings from Mark would seem to imply, 
though they do not conclusively prove, that he was 
personally known to those addressed and, therefore, 
must at some time have labored among them. 

But the greatest fruit of Mark's association with 
Peter and his supreme service to Christianity and to 
the world, was his writing of the second Gospel, 
second in the order of the books, first in order of 
composition. This was unquestionably written at 
Rome, probably almost immediately after the mar- 
tyrdom of St. Peter, and preserves to all time 
the portrait of the Master which remained most 
vivid in Peter's mind, and records the incidents of 
his life which Peter constantly preached and retold. 
The book is certainly our oldest Gospel, presents the 
simplest and least adorned picture of Christ, por- 
traying him as the man of action and kindly deeds ; 
and not so much as the preacher, or the divine Son 



JOHN MARK 67 

of God. So perfectly is the book believed to reflect 
the mind and preaching of Peter that it is some- 
times called ' ' The Memoirs of Peter. ' ' 

VI 

Brief Summary of the Services Rendered to Chris- 
tianity by Paul's Friend John Mark 

The manifold services of this great and accom- 
plishing friend of St. Paul, can best be grouped un- 
der four general divisions. 

First, his missionary labors: These include his 
first journey through Cyrus in company with Paul 
and Barnabas; a second mission to Cyprus with 
Barnabas alone; then an extensive journey in Asia 
Minor, perhaps entirely alone, the evidence for 
which is found in Peter's first epistle, and in Paul's 
letter to the Colossians and his second to Timothy. 
Besides these three known missionary journeys, tra- 
dition affirms several others and gives considerable 
weighty evidence to substantiate its assertions. 

Second, the eminent men with whom Mark was 
associated as intimate companion and fellow mis- 
sionary in the city of Rome. Among whom were 
Paul, Peter, Luke, Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, 
Justus, Epaphras, and Demas. 

Third, his authorship of the second Gospel. 

Fourth, the service he rendered to his own age 
and all time by showing us a man who had the 
courage to face his own past and live it down, and 
win and enjoy the friendship and confidence of such 
men as Peter, Paul, and Barnabas. He is a living 



68 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

example of the power of Christ to make a mighty 
and fearless warrior of one who has once failed and 
fled from the face of battle. He is the living proof 
that Christ trusts such again, and commits to them 
the holiest services and mightiest tasks. 

VII 

What Paul and the Man Who Once Forfeited and 
Afterwards Regained His Friendship Mutually 
Owed Each Other 

It is undoubtedly true that Mark owed far more 
to Barnabas and Peter than he did to Paul. But if 
he owned nothing else to Paul, he most assuredly 
owed this — the inspiration which comes from the 
example of uncompromising loyalty to a work once 
undertaken, and fearless obedience to one's life 
mission whatever the perils and cost to self. This 
lesson Mark once sorely needed, and doubtless it 
had a steadying power on his after life which must 
have influenced him though less appreciably yet as 
surely as did Barnabas 's trusting friendship in the 
crisis of his career. 

On the other hand Paul certainly owed much to 
his friend Mark, probably more than Mark to him. 
Mark's complete retrieving of his one mistake must 
have taught the Apostle to the Gentiles the need of 
a broader and kindlier judgment of his fellowmen; 
that he should condone their weaknesses and be- 
lieve in the final triumph and victory of their better 
nature; that one failure does not spoil a life, and 
that there may be divine material in the most un- 



JOHN MARK 69 

promising of men. Certain it is that Paul never 
again failed any of his friends, never again judged 
them harshly. Ever afterwards he trusted to the 
uttermost those he loved, appealed to all that was 
noble within them, committed unto them the 
weightiest responsibilities, inspired and encouraged 
them to meet and conquer weakness and temp- 
tations within, difficulties and terrors without. 

And more definitely and explicitly, Paul owed to 
Mark public co-operation in his missionary work at 
Rome; also the most intimate personal sympathy, 
comfort, and ministrations while he languished in a 
prison cell; and, we may believe, his presence and 
consolations in his dying hour. Beautiful and ten- 
der beyond words were the last relations of these 
two men. What personal magnetism and genius for 
friendship had Paul to call forth such devotion on 
the part of one whom he once so cruelly, though not 
vindictively, had wounded. What forgiveness and 
forgetfulness on the part of Mark. What a heart 
of gold had he. What nobility to call forth such 
love from the great Apostle, what nobility to accept 
the other's generous restoration of himself to the 
secret place and inner circle of his mighty, throb- 
bing love for his friends. 

I would not contrast such friends. I would not 
compare them. To do so would be to do both an 
injury and an injustice. The years purged each of 
all dross and only love was left. 



Nero is already sharpening the axe to smite down 



70 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

"such a one as Paul the aged." Only Luke is with 
him. The desolate old man would see once more 
before he suffers, the faces of his best loved friends. 
He hurls a message across the seas to his "son" 
Timothy — "Do thy diligence to come shortly unto 
me . . . . take Mark and bring him with thee" 
— so wrote the broken warrior in his last message, 
in his dying hour. Surely by those words Mark was 
compensated for all he had ever suffered. The cur- 
tain drops, the lights go out, and all is still. 



CHAPTER IV 

Silas — The Man St. Paul First Trained in Missionary 

Work 



The story of Silas's career is based upon the fol- 
lowing passages — Acts chapters 15, 16, 17, and 18; 
2nd Cor. 1 :19, 1st Thes. 1 :1, 2nd Thes. 1 :1, and 1st 
Peter 5:12. 



WHEN Paul had his rupture with Bar- 
nabas over the question of taking 
Mark with them on a visitation of 
the churches they had founded on 
their first missionary journey, we read ''Paul chose 
Silas, and departed, being recommended by the 
brethren unto the grace of God. And he went 
through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches." 
This trip, originally planned as a mere visitation 
of churches already existent, was lengthened out by 
the guidance of the Spirit until Paul traversed all 
Asia Minor and entered upon the conquest of Mace- 
donia and Achaia, and is known to history as Paul's 
" Second Missionary Journey." It has proved to be 
one of the most momentous journeys in the history 
of the world, — greater than his third for that was 
largely a going over of the same ground, greater 

71 



72 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

than the first for that covered a relatively small 
territory. How great this second journey was to be 
even Paul did not dream in advance, — in fact, he 
never had any adequate conception of its signifi- 
cance, one could not have had in the age in which it 
took place. But some things Paul must have 
known ; he must have known it would be momentous 
and hazardous. And hence the fact that of all men 
he deliberately chose Silas for his heart's closest 
companion and constant coworker in such an enter- 
prise and field of peril, is in itself a sufficient certifi- 
cate of character for Silas and a sufficient eulogy of 
his merits, even were this the only time his name 
were mentioned in the New Testament. 

By this choice on the part of Paul, Silas, in the 
providence of God, was lifted to the front rank of 
the world's missionaries and heralds of the Cross. 
It is not surely known that Silas had had any pre- 
vious experience or training in missionary labors. 
Paul's experience with Barnabas was that of a sub- 
ordinate at first, and Mark also was under Barna- 
bas 's leadership, not Paul's, so neither of those 
friends can claim the unique place occupied by Silas. 
But though the latter was the first to be trained by 
Paul, he was not the last. A score of other young 
men were to enjoy the same arduous privilege in the 
next few years, and thus be made ready to take up 
the old warrior's fallen mantle when he should cast 
it aside, and so perpetuate his life work and mission. 



SILAS 73 



I 



What Is Known About Silas Up to the Time Paul 
Chose Him for His Travelling Companion 

Of his early years and conversion we know abso- 
lutely nothing. Tradition declares that he was one 
of the Seventy sent out by our Lord during his 
earthly ministry • but there is no authority in the 
New Testament for this assertion, though it may be 
true. 

Silas 's name first occurs in Acts 15 : 22 — ' ' Then 
pleased it the Apostles and elders, with the whole 
church, to send chosen men of their own company 
to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas 
surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the 
brethren." The Jerusalem Council had just come 
to a unanimous decision with reference to the rules 
which were to be binding on the Gentile converts. 
The decision was to be formulated in writing and 
entrusted to Paul and Barnabas to deliver to the 
various churches of Syria and Cilicia. Also verbal 
messages and greetings were to be sent from the 
mother church, and so it seemed best to send along 
with Paul and Barnabas members of the Council 
from Jerusalem to make assurance doubly sure. The 
men who would have been likely to be chosen for 
such an important commission, especially in view 
of the fact that there were oral as well as written 
instructions to be delivered, would naturally have 
been those who commanded the full confidence of 
the strictest Jewish Christians of Jerusalem. Like- 



74 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

wise they had to be men of great ability and tact and 
of winning personality, lest they give offense to the 
sensitive Gentile converts. The choice of the Jeru- 
salem leaders fell upon Judas Barsabas and Silas, 
who, we are told, were "chief men among the 
brethren. ' ' 

The import of this latter declaration should not 
be overlooked. There were still in the Jerusalem 
church at this time such men as Peter and John, and 
James the Lord 's brother, as- well as other eminent 
leaders. Now when we are informed that Silas was 
one of the chief men in such a company we are not in 
danger of overestimating either his character or his 
ability. We are also told in connection with the 
fulfilment of his mission, that he was a successful 
prophet and preacher, speaking to the great joy and 
consolation of the churches. 

Having arrived at Antioch Judas and Silas for a 
time entered enthusiastically into the work there. 
Finally having discharged their original commission, 
"they were let go in peace from the brethren unto 
the Apostles. Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to 
abide there still. ' ' Evidently Silas was deeply 
impressed by the enthusiasm, breadth, and power of 
the work at Antioch as Barnabas also had been 
when he first came in contact with it, having been 
likewise sent thither on a special mission by the 
Jerusalem church. So also had Paul been impressed 
when he first came to Antioch, brought thither by 
Barnabas. Surely here were the surgings of mighty 
powers. Silas could not tear himself away, he 



SILAS 75 

wanted to have a part and be a part of the vast 
enterprises which here had their birthplace. So "it 
pleased Silas to abide there still." 

Then followed the proposal of Paul to Barnabas 
to revisit the Gentile churches, their quarrel over 
Mark and their final separation, and Barnabas 's 
departure with Mark to Cyprus leaving Paul still at 
Antioch. But Paul couldn't abandon his proposed 
visitation of his Gentile converts, so he chose Silas, 
"and departed, being recommended by the brethren 
unto the grace of God. ' ' 

II 

Why Paul Chose Silas 

Now we may raise the question — why did Paul 
choose Silas for a companion on his second mission- 
ary journey? Some of the reasons have already 
been indirectly given in connection with previous 
topics, but it will be convenient to set them down in 
an orderly manner by themselves. As Silas was one 
of Paul's chief friends we want to know all about 
him that we can. 

We might note in the first place that Paul never 
traveled alone if he could possibly avoid it. Not- 
withstanding his unshakable confidence in his Lord, 
and the strength and independence of his own char- 
acter, his yearning heart ever clung to human 
friends ; he always wanted them near him : they were 
his comfort, his solace, and his inspiration. 

Then, too, he always wanted others with him as 
helpers in the work. Christ sent out the Seventy, 



76 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

and again the Twelve, two by two. Paul began his- 
first missionary journey with two companions, and 
completed it with one. Experience taught him both 
the comfort and the practical value of human com- 
panionship. The work of missions was ever too 
large, too lonely, and too dangerous for any man to 
like to attempt it alone. 

But all this does not throw any light on the ques- 
tion why Silas was the particular man selected at 
this crisis in Paul's career. This was no matter of 
mere chance or convenience. There were ample rea- 
sons both of policy and personality why the choice 
fell on Silas. As to reasons of policy: Silas was 
one of the chief men of the strictly Jewish Christian 
church at Jerusalem, and commanded the confidence 
of all the brethren there; Paul was more than will- 
ing that such a one should accompany him, inspect 
his work among the Gentiles, and report his obser- 
vations to the home church, so as to remove any 
prejudice which might be still lingering against him 
and his general missionary policy among the Gen- 
tiles. Paul also wanted with him a strict Jew from 
Jerusalem for such could far better confirm all Gen- 
tile Christians as to their privileges in Christ and in 
the Christian church, and could also substantiate 
Paul's affirmations that he now had the unanimous 
backing and endorsement of the elders and Apostles 
at Jerusalem; Silas was already accredited by the 
authority of the Council to the many churches Paul 
had proposed to Barnabas that they revisit; and, 
lastly, Silas as well as Paul was a Roman citizen > 



SILAS 77 

and in traveling through dangerous regions this 
might prove no mean advantage. 

When we pass from questions of policy to ques- 
tions of personality and ask why Paul chose Silas, 
we find other reasons equally cogent : there was the 
native ability of Silas amply proven to Paul by his 
standing in his home community in the same class 
with Peter, James, and John; witnessed to also by 
Paul's own observations of him and his work at the 
Jerusalem Council and in the church at Antioch; 
there were, too, his zeal, consecration, and breadth 
of mind proven by his immediate and eager entrance 
into the work at Antioch, despite its somewhat Gen- 
tile complexion, and his reluctance to return to 
Jerusalem even after his original commission had 
been discharged; there was his faultless tact in so 
addressing Gentile converts that they "rejoiced for 
the consolation ; ' ' therefore we cannot wonder that 
of all men Paul selected Silas for the companion of 
his heart and the sharer of his perils. We cannot 
wonder that Paul 's affections clave unto this man 
and that his judgment endorsed the verdict of his 
love; nor can we wonder that, when the great 
Apostle's summons fell on the wondering ears of 
Silas, this messenger of the single church at Jeru- 
salem to the scattered churches of Syria and Cilicia, 
was at once lifted up and transformed into the mis- 
sionary of the Cross to all mankind. Paul had a 
way of speaking to men like that — and they could 
not say him nay. 



78 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

Up and down through the streets of the cities of 
two continents this man Paul who once was exceed- 
ing mad against Christians persecuting them even 
to death and compelling them to blaspheme, up and 
down through cities and across deserts and over 
mountain heights he traveled year after year and 
year after year, preaching Christ and peering into 
the faces of all he met, looking for men, men of abil- 
ity, courage, and consecration, men whom he could 
summon to forsake all and follow him; men whom 
he could train to multiply his personality in life and 
perpetuate his mission after his death; men upon 
whose shoulders his mantle could some day fall, men 
who would carry the Cross into the "regions 
beyond" when his own tired hands should be folded 
in infinite peace across his weary breast. At Jeru- 
salem, and again at Antioch, he peered into the face 
of this man Silas, he saw there the making of a hero, 
herald, and martyr. The fulness of time came, God's 
clock struck the hour, Paul's unexpected challenge 
rang in Silas's soul, and he forsook all and followed 
him. Paul had that kind of way about him with 
young men, and be it said to the glory of young men 
they had a way of answering as Silas answered, and 
about their dauntless leader on many a distant bat- 
tlefield, they fought as did the Tenth Legion under 
the eye of Caesar, or the Old Guard under the eye 
of Napoleon. And so with a single Lieutenant com- 
posing his entire army, St. Paul, that greatest of 
all Field-Marshals who ever led the soldiers of 



SILAS 79 

Christ to battle, set forth on one of the most momen- 
tous campaigns in the annals of mankind. 

Paul and Silas were Orientals and might have 
turned their faces toward their racial kindred of 
the rising sun. But they turned Westward — and 
nineteen centuries of Christian history have fol- 
lowed the path they blazed. 

Ill 

The Most Significant Invasion Europe Ever Saw 

It is no part of our purpose to trace in detail the 
events of Paul's second missionary journey, or to 
write the biography of the great Apostle. We have 
to do only with his friendships and his friends, and 
the mutual influence they and he had on each others' 
lives, and the assistance they were to him in his life 
work. 

At once on leaving Antioch Paul and Silas went 
through Syria and Cilicia confirming the churches. 
"And as they went through the cities, they delivered 
them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of 
the Apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. 
And so were the churches established in the faith, 
and increased in number daily. Now when they 
had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of 
Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to 
preach the word in Asia, after they were come to 
Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the 
Spirit suffered them not. And they passing by 
Mysia came down to Troas." 



80 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

In all this long journey they were constantly 
strengthening existing churches and jointly found- 
ing new ones, Silas sharing all the honors and all 
the perils and responsibilities of this magnificent 
pioneer missionary work. Constantly, too, they were 
ever sweeping Westward unconscious of the world- 
changing purposes of God which were to be wrought 
out in this journey through their instrumentality. 
So at last these pilgrims, now including both Tim- 
othy and Luke in their company, have reached Troas 
on the Hellespont. They have reached this spot not 
alone by entering open doors, but also by being com- 
pelled to pass by closed doors they fain would 
have entered. Why they were thus thwarted 
remained for them at the time among the inscrutable 
mysteries of Providence. But God had his purposes 
infinitely larger than the plans of even such men 
as Paul and Silas, and gropingly they were stum- 
bling along to the fulfilment of the Divine decrees. 

So here these four men are at Troas. Doors are 
closed on the right hand and on the left; retreat is 
impossible ; the sea is before them — what are they to 
do? Late into the night perhaps they discuss the 
strange thwartings of the Holy Spirit who would not 
suffer them to preach the word in Asia or Bithynia. 
What can they do, where proclaim the Cross of 
Christ? 

It was a troubled, anxious group. They gaze 
wistfully at the setting sun as its dying rays light up 
with lurid flame the green isles of the Aegaean. It 
seems to be beckoning them onward to follow it to 



SILAS 81 

its hiding place beyond the Westward world. They 
talk of Greece and Rome and the regions beyond, 
and covet these for their Lord. Would God they 
might have the honor of planting the Cross on Euro- 
pean soil. And as they talked, these four men, they 
wist not that their faces shone. 

But will the Holy Ghost permit such a far mis- 
sion? Asia is not yet won for Christ, and shall they 
four, feeble, unarmed men attempt the conquest of 
all Europe? Long the four thus anxiously question 
the leadings of the Spirit. The night waxes late, 
their problem is too mighty for human solution, they 
pray and then lie down to rest — God will solve their 
difficulties, will answer their prayers and aspira- 
tions in the way that is best for them and for the 
Kingdom. 

And so as they peacefully and trustingly slept "a 
vision appeared to Paul in the night ; There stood a 
man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying Come 
over into Macedonia, and help us. And after he had 
seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go 
into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord 
had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. 
Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a 
straight course to Samothracia, and the next day 
to Neapolis." 

And so four men — Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke 
— compose the entire army that undertook the 
mightiest conquest in the annals of mankind, — the 
conquest of pagan Europe for the crown of Jesus 
Christ. 



82 SAINT PAUL'S FBIENDSHIPS 

Four hundred years earlier, near this same spot, 
Xerxes crossed the Hellespont with an army of a 
million men for the conquest of tiny Greece alone — 
and he failed. But now four men, armed only with 
the sword of the Spirit and led by the Prince of 
Peace, undertook the conquest of all Europe, and so 
inaugurated a campaign which was to be fought on 
till victory should crown the banners of the soldiers 
of the Cross. And Silas is one of the four, is him- 
self one-fourth of this initial army of conquest. To 
such honor has his friendship with St. Paul brought 
him. Into his soul the great Apostle had breathed 
his own master passion and he was lifted to the 
heights where stood his mightier friend. Paul did 
this sort of thing for the lieutenants he gathered 
about him and hurled against the ramparts of 
paganism. 

They went down to Philippi and there Silas shared 
with Paul in the founding of that powerful church ; 
there also with Paul he faced every danger and with 
him was thrust into the inner prison with his feet 
made fast in the stocks; and there at midnight he 
and Paul prayed and sang praises until the old 
Philippian jail rang again. Surely Paul chose 
wisely when he chose Silas to be the companion of 
his perils, here was one who could sing whatever 
betide. He was a man after Paul's own heart. 

Together they journeyed on to Thessalonica and 
here again Silas became the joint-founder with Paul 
of a great church, and with him shared the glory of 
their foes' indictment that they had " turned the 



SILAS 83 

world upside down." Leaving Thessalonica they 
came to Berea and preached there. Here Paul being 
almost immediately driven out, Silas and Timothy 
remained to consolidate the work, which fact would 
seem to indicate that Silas was no less brave than 
Paul and at the same time was a man of greater 
tact in dealing with a critical and dangerous 
situation. 

From Berea Paul went to Athens and thence to 
Corinth where he was rejoined by Silas and Timothy. 
Apparently he reached Corinth in a state bordering 
on collapse. But on the arrival of his two friends 
Silas and Timothy from Macedonia, he became, 
through their sympathy and encouragement, his old 
self once more, "and being pressed in the spirit 
testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ/ ' In 
Paul's second letter to the Corinthians he refers to 
Silas as one of the founders of this church also. 

At this point the name of Silas abruptly and per- 
manently disappears from the narrative in Acts. 
Why this is so it is impossible to say, and conjecture 
is practically valueless. There are, however, two 
suggested reasons which we may glance at in pass- 
ing. One is that Silas stayed behind in Corinth 
when Paul finally departed, and that Acts concerns 
itself only with the subsequent movements of Paul. 
This view is not well sustained, though it may be 
impossible wholly to disprove it. The other theory 
is that when Silas left his home in Jerusalem he did 
not contemplate an absenec of more than a few 
weeks at most, nor a journey farther than to Cilicia ; 



84 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

yet already on his arrival at Corinth he had been 
away from home several years, and journeyed clear 
across Asia Minor and into Europe ; but now, at last, 
it is conjectured, it was imperative that he return 
home at once. Now while the first part of this argu- 
ment is unquestionably true, there is not a particle 
of evidence to sustain the conclusion arrived at ; yet 
it must be said that this course of reasoning has all 
the merits of plausibility and may very well have 
been the facts of the matter. At any rate, there is 
not a scintilla of evidence that any shadow fell 
athwart the friendship of Paul and Silas, or that 
Silas was ever found wanting in his sacrifices for the 
Cross. A few years later we find him Peter's aman- 
uensis at Rome and the bearer of his first epistle to 
"the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Gala- 
tia, Cappadoeia, Asia, and Bithynia," in part of 
which regions he had in earlier years jointly with 
Paul been the founder of many churches. 

And so the after life of Silas abundantly justified 
St. Paul in choosing him of all men to be the com- 
panion of his second missionary journey — the great- 
est missionary journey in the annals of Christianity. 

IV 

What the Friendship of Paul and Silas Meant to 

Each 

To Silas the friendship of Paul meant the lifting 
of himself to Paul's moral hight and outlook, the 
sharing of Paul's master passion for souls, the privi- 
lege of linking his name forever with Paul's second 



SILAS 85 

missionary journey, the opportunity and joy of 
sharing Paul's labors and perils from Antioch across 
Asia Minor to Troas, across the Hellespont to 
Philippi, across Macedonia and Greece to the city of 
Corinth. 

And the friendship of Silas meant to Paul the fill- 
ing of the void in his heart made by his separation 
from Barnabas; it meant the closest sympathy and 
companionship for weary years of labor in many a 
hostile city, and in journey ings over hundreds of 
leagues of unknown mountains and perilous valleys. 
It meant the staunchest assistance in the founding of 
churches all through Asia Minor, and of the great 
European churches at Philippi, Thessalonica, and 
Corinth. It meant the consolidating and perfecting 
of his abruptly terminated work at Berea, and the 
counsel freely given together with Timothy's, in the 
composition of the two letters to the church at 
Thessalonica, which were written under the joint 
names and salutations of the three men. 

And if, as seems probable, Silas's mission to the 
many churches of Asia Minor under the direction of 
St. Peter was after Paul 's death, then we have in his 
friendship with Paul one of the hall-marks of the 
world significance of a great friendship — the perpet- 
uation of a man's life work through his friends after 
his own death ; for it was among some of these very 
churches to which Peter wrote, that Paul labored 
many years, to the care of these that he gave such 
nights of sleepless anxiety, and to some of them that 



86 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

he himself wrote in a passion of blood and tears and 
awful imprecations that Galatian Epistle. 

And so it is a fitting close to the life of this friend 
of Paul's, that our last glimpse of him should find 
him setting out on a mission to that very field where 
he and Paul had labored so long and faithfully to- 
gether, and that his last known work should be a 
sort of sealing to that departed Christian gladiator 
of still more fruit in a region which had cost him 
such labor, anguish, and prayer. 



CHAPTER V 

Timothy — Paul's Best Loved Friend 



The story of Timothy's career is contained in the 
following books and passages : — Acts 16 :1, 20 :4, Rom. 
36:21, 1 Cor. 4:17, 16 :1 0-11, 2 Cor. 1:1 and 19, Phil. 
1 :1 and 2 :19-23, Col. 1 :1-15, 1 Thes. 1 :1 and 3 :2-6, 
2 Thes. 1 :l-2, Phm. 1 :l-3, and the books of 1st and 
2nd Timothy, and Heb. 13:23. 



T 



il y | ^HOU therefore, my son, be strong in the 

grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the 

things that thou hast heard of me among 

many witnesses, the same commit thou to 

faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier 

of Jesus Christ.'' 

So wrote the aged Paul from his dungeon in 
Rome to his youthful friend Timothy, pastor at 
Ephesus, scores of leagues away across the seas. 
The words are found in the last letter the old war- 
rior ever wrote, and were probably penned and dis- 
patched only a few days or weeks before he received 
his crown. The above quotation contains and illus- 
trates the two profoundest of the world-significant 
phases of human friendship, those two great princi- 

87 



88 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

pies which we are striving ever to keep prominently 
before us in our study of St. Paul and those friend- 
ships of his which have changed the world: — first, 
that in a true friendship the stronger friend is ever 
lifting the weaker and lesser to his own hights of 
courage and achievement, and so multiplies himself 
in life; and, second, by thus pouring into the heart 
and soul of another his one master passion, his own 
life and mission are perpetuated in the life and 
mission of his surviving friends and the generations 
that follow. 

The important place held by Timothy in the New 
Testament and in the early church, is evidenced in 
many ways, most of which we shall endeavor to 
touch upon. But superficially Timothy's importance 
is brought prominently to our notice by the fact that 
his name occurs in twelve of the twenty-seven books 
of the New Testament: — Acts, Romans, 1st and 2nd 
Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd 
Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Philemon, and 
Hebrews. 

Not one of the Twelve Apostles is named in nearly 
so many books. In fact the name of no other man 
is found in so many save that of Paul only which 
is found in fifteen books : — his own thirteen epistles, 
and Acts and 2nd Peter. Timothy also holds the 
unique distinction of being the only man to whom 
two of the inspired books of Scripture were origin- 
ally written as private letters of a friend. In making 
this statement I do not forget that Luke addressed 
both his Gospel and Acts to "Theophilus." But 



TIMOTHY 89 

whether this name is that of an individual friend, 
or a generic term for all the "loved of God," 
certainly the contents of these two books were never 
intended to be understood as private personal 
letters. 

I 

Vindication of the Title to This Chapter 

In choosing the title for this sketch — "Timothy, 
the best loved friend of St. Paul ' ' — I have taken one 
which most appropriately characterizes the tender 
personal relation which existed between the two 
men. I much doubt if any one will be disposed 
seriously to contest the use of the superlative in 
this phrase. 

In the whole range of the world's literature and 
history there are few friendships which can be 
compared to that of Paul and Timothy. In Scripture 
I can find but two which seem to me worthy to stand 
with theirs — the friendship of David and Jonathan, 
and that of Christ and the Apostle John. Both of 
these were equal to Paul's with Timothy in the 
intensity of their love, in all other respects they 
radically differed. But I would not emphasize the 
divergences in these three great and unique friend- 
ships. I would simply claim a place for that of 
Paul and Timothy on a par with the other two in 
its intensity, purity, and unselfishness. In these 
high qualities these three friendships stand apart 
in the Sacred Scriptures — there is no fourth. 



90 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

As I study the relations of these two men, Paul 
and Timothy, and ponder all the wealth of endearing 
and solicitous language the former employs in his 
letters to the latter and in his references to him in 
his epistles to the various churches, it seems to me 
that Paul's affection for his younger friend partook 
of something of the nature of every possible tender 
human tie. Timothy is at one and the same time 
his friend and his brother. Paul loves him as a father 
loves an only son, as a strong man loves a weak and 
confiding woman, — yes, more, as a mother loves and 
yearns over a helpless., crippled child. There is 
something almost pathetic in the might of this 
strong man's imperious tenderness for "his child 
Timothy." 

Were we to bring forward specific evidence of 
the intensity of Paul's love for Timothy, we should 
find it in the domestic terms he uses in speaking of 
and writing to him : four times he calls Timothy his 
"brother," five times he is his "son." We should 
find it in his words of endearment: Timothy is his 
' ' beloved, ' ' his ' ' dearly beloved. ' ' We should find it 
in his words of praise and commendation: he tells 
the Romans Timothy is his ' ' workf ellow ; " he writes 
the church at Corinth that Timothy is "faithful in 
the Lord" and "worketh the work of the Lord, as 
I also do;" from his Roman prison he informs the 
Philippians that he has with him "no man like- 
minded" with Timothy, "who will naturally care 
for their state," and reminds them that "they know 
the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he 



TIMOTHY 91 

hath served with me in the Gospel;" to the Thessa- 
lonian church he speaks of Timothy as ' ' the minister 
of God and onr fellow laborer in the Gospel of 
Christ." 

Were we to seek farther confirmation of Paul's 
affection, we should find it in the language and 
tone of parental solicitude which ever surges to the 
surface whenever in his letters he has occasion to 
mention the name of his "son Timothy." He 
beseeches the Corinthians that if he come unto them 
they should see to it he did so without fear, and 
that no man should despise him but conduct him 
forth at his departure in peace. And almost every 
word and phrase of his two letters to Timothy are 
athrill and atremble with this paternal anxiety for 
his personal wellbeing and public conduct and 
success. 

II 

Timothy 's Early Life and His Enlistment by St. Paul 

Timothy's native town was Lystra, a city in the 
south-central part of Asia Minor. While his mother 
was a Jewess, his father was a Greek; but his 
training was strictly that of a Hebrew youth. His 
conversion to Christianity evidently took place when 
he was quite young, occurring at the time Paul and 
Barnabas visited his home town on their first mis- 
sionary journey. Although his name is not mentioned 
by Luke in his narrative of that event, yet when 
Paul and Silas visit Lystra on the former's second 
missionary journey Timothy is not only well known 



92 SAINT PAUL'S FKIENDSHIPS 

as a Christian worker in his own city but also at the 
neighboring town of Iconium. 

That he was converted through Paul's efforts is 
abundantly proved by Paul's phrase "my own son 
in the faith." When, therefore, Paul and Silas 
reached Lystra and heard the splendid reports of 
Timothy's character and activity, the Apostle at 
once determined to attach Timothy to himself and 
enlist him in his life work. If on this journey Silas 
filled the place made vacant in Paul's heart by his 
abrupt separation from Barnabas, Timothy was 
destined to more than fill the place of John Mark. 
And so he became the second man whom Paul was 
to train in missionary service, and into whose soul 
he was to breathe the inspiration and zeal of his own 
master passion. 

Either at this time or some years later when 
Timothy became pastor of the church at Ephesus, 
he was solemnly set apart for Christian service by 
the laying on of the hands Paul and the Presbytery, 
and by words of prophecy. If the ordination took 
place at this time, it is more than likely that the 
prophecies were uttered by Silas, who, we are told, 
was a prophet as well as preacher and missionary. 

So now the old circle of three is again complete 
and Paul and his two new companions with glowing 
faces turned toward the great unknown West, and 
with ever hurrying footsteps eagerly answered the 
Spirit's summons to "the regions beyond." 



TIMOTHY 93 

III 

Timothy's Fivefold Service to Christianity 

In the providence of God and inspired by the love, 
leadership and guidance of St. Paul, Timothy was 
destined to render a fivefold service to his own and 
all subsequent generations of the Christian church. 
Perhaps it is well to distinguish these and speak of 
each separately, thus conveying to our minds a more 
distinct impression of the length and breadth and 
hight of his services, though by so doing we shall 
not be able to give each its proper setting in con- 
nection with other services he was simultaneously 
rendering. 

1 

Timothy's Service as an Itinerant Missionary 

As we have seen, Timothy was drafted by St. 
Paul as soon as he and Silas reached Lystra on 
Paul's second missionary journey. Together with 
them he journeyed and labored till they had swept 
in a northwesterly direction up across Asia Minor 
to Troas, opposite the Macedonian shore. He was 
one of that immortal four who invaded Europe, first 
claiming that continent for Jesus Christ. With Silas 
and St. Paul he helped found the churches at 
Philippi and Thessalonica; but he was not as 
aggressive as his two older companions. We infer 
this from the fact that at neither place is there any 
reference to his personal safety being endangered. 
At Berea he tarried behind with Silas to complete 



94 SAINT PAUL'S FEIENDSHIPS 

and consolidate the work inaugurated by Paul, but 
from which the latter had been driven forth by 
persecution. 

Arriving at Athens Paul sent back a hasty 
message for Timothy and Silas to join him there; 
but on the arrival of the former he immediately 
dispatched him to Thessalonica. On his return from 
that mission he found Paul had left Athens and 
gone to Corinth. There he and Silas joined their 
leader and aided him in founding the powerful 
church in that city. 

Nothing more is heard of him until we find him 
again with Paul at Ephesus on the latter 's third 
missionary journey. Conjecture as to his movements 
during the intervening period, is utterly idle — he 
may have gone with Paul back to Antioch, he may 
have remained behind at Corinth or in Macedonia, 
or he may have gone to Ephesus and there awaited 
Paul's return from Antioch, we cannot say which. 

After serving Paul in an important mission, which 
will be dealt with in its proper place, he rejoined 
him at Ephesus, then together they again labored 
among the Macedonian churches which they with 
Silas and Luke had founded on a former journey. 
He also at this time accompanied Paul on his journey 
through Greece, and with him preached at Corinth. 
When Paul finally set out from Macedonia on his 
last journey to Jerusalem, he was one of the large 
company of evangelists whom the former had gath- 
ered about him. "And there accompanied him into 
Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, 



TIMOTHY 95 

Aristarchus and Secundus ; and Gains of Derbe, and 
Timotheus ; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus. ' ' 

Timothy's name is not again mentioned in con- 
nection with this momentous journey of St. Paul. 
Some conjecture that he accompanied Paul to 
Jerusalem: others that he was left behind as pastor 
of the church at Ephesus. There is no clear evidence 
to settle the question. 

His subsequent movements are impossible to trace 
in any definite and connected manner. But from 
scattered references in the epistles of Paul to the 
churches of Macedonia, Greece, and Asia Minor, and 
to Timothy himself, we know that he was ever 
diligently doing the work of an evangelist. We 
know also that he was for a time with St. Paul 
during his first imprisonment, for he is associated 
with him in the authorship of several letters written 
at Rome, and also we have Paul's word that he was 
contemplating sending him from Rome on a mission 
to Philippi. And later on, as we learn from Paul's 
second letter to him, written during the former's 
second imprisonment at Rome, he was again laboring 
in the far East probably once more at Ephesus. 

In all likelihood he answered Paul's last summons 
to join him in Rome. At some time during this 
period he was himself imprisoned for a time, but 
subsequently set at liberty, as we learn from the 
epistle to the Hebrews. Of his later years and 
death nothing is definitely known; but traditions of 
considerable weight declare that he rounded out his 



96 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

career as settled pastor or bishop of Ephesus, and 
there crowned his service to Christ with a glorious 
martyrdom. 

2 

Timothy's Service as the Executor of Important 

Commissions 

We have the record of three such commissions 
which we know Timothy executed, and there is a 
fourth which Paul had in contemplation and may 
have had him carry out, though we have no informa- 
tion that makes this certain. 

The first of these missions which was entrusted 
to Timothy occurred on Paul's second missionary 
journey when he sent him from Athens to Thessa- 
lonica. The importance of this and Timothy's 
eminent success in executing it can best be attested 
by transcribing Paul's own words. " Wherefore 
when we could no longer forbear, we thought it 
good to be left at Athens alone ; and sent Timotheus, 
our brother, and minister of God, and our fellow 
laborer in the Gospel of Christ, to establish you, and 
to comfort you concerning your faith: that no man 
should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves 
know that we are appointed thereunto. — For this 
cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to 
know your faith, lest by some means the tempter 
have tempted you, and our labor be in vain. But 
now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and 
brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, 



TIMOTHY 97 

and that ye have good remembrance of us always, 
desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you: 
therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in 
all our affliction and distress by your faith." 

On Paul's third missionary journey, while he 
tarried and labored at Ephesus, he sent Timothy 
with Erastus on a mission to the Macedonian 
churches. Of the nature and success of this trip we 
have no record. As an extension of this same 
mission, or soon after it, Timothy was sent on 
matters of great moment to the church at Corinth. 
Paul had grave fears as to his reception there, and 
also as to the success of his visit. These fears were 
amply justified for Timothy appears to have utterly 
failed in his efforts to settle the troubles of the 
church, necessitating the dispatching of Titus to the 
scene of difficulty. 

A fourth mission on which Paul contemplated 
sending Timothy was from Rome to the church at 
Philippi. This intention Paul announced in his 
letter to that church. Whether Timothy was sent 
thither or not is unknown, but as we later find him 
laboring again in the East it is quite probable that 
he took in Philippi on the way. Whatever the 
varying successes of these four missions, the fact 
that Paul committed them unto Timothy shows his 
confidence in the latter 's ability, and also proves 
Timothy's willingness to undertake critical and 
hazardous enterprises under the direction of his 
leader and for the glory of his Lord. At Thessa- 
lonica he was preeminently successful : his failure at 



98 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

Corinth may not reflect upon his talents or tact — 
conditions there were so desperate as to be the 
despair of St. Paul himself. 

3 

Timothy's Service as a Settled Pastor 

About all we can say with positive assurance 
under this head, is that he was certainly once for 
a longer or shorter time pastor of the church at 
Ephesus. The proof of this is found in Paul 's words : 
"As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, 
when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest 
charge some that they teach no other doctrine.' ' 
And, in fact, Paul's entire first letter to him was 
for his guidance in that pastorate. But the date of 
this and its place in the movements of Paul himself 
is entirely uncertain. Some authorities are positive 
that it took place during Paul's journey to Antioch 
at the conclusion of his second missionary journey. 
Others are equally sure that it is to be placed after 
his release from his first imprisonment at Rome, 
when he was again doing missionary work for a 
short time in Crete and Greece. 

Whatever the precise time, the evidence is clear 
as to the pastorate itself. It is not impossible that 
he served this church on several different occasions. 
It may very well be that he remained here and 
preached while Paul visited Antioch between his 
second and third missionary journeys, and that he 
was there again later on. It is known that he was 
with Paul some of the time during his first or second 



TIMOTHY ,. 99 

imprisonment at Rome, and that he had returned to 
the East, in all probability to Ephesus, before Paul 's 
martyrdom, for it is from the East that he is so 
pathetically summoned to hasten back to console 
the dying hours of his life-long friend. And, as we 
have already seen, it is altogether probable that 
after Paul's death and his own imprisonment and 
release, he returned to Ephesus once more and there 
completed his earthly service. 

Be these conjectures as they may, the fact of 
Paul's appointment of him even once to such an 
important pastorate proves his faith in his ability, 
and was carrying out Paul's conscious purpose of so 
training the friends about him that when at last 
he must lay down his mantle there would be a 
score ready to take it up, and his master passion 
still burn in other bosoms to the end of time. "And 
the things that thou hast heard of me among many 
witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, 
who shall be able to teach others also." 

4. 

Timothy i 's Service as an Associate Author 

We are accustomed to speak of Paul as the author 
of thirteen books of the New Testament. This is 
not incorrect; and yet it does not tell the entire 
story concerning the authorship of his epistles. We 
need but glance at the introduction and salutations 
of the several letters to discover that in some cases 
Paul distinctly associates other men with himself as 
joint authors; at least of the messages sent. Un- 



100 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

doubtedly the language is practically all Pauline. 
In all probability the messages and counsel are 
mainly his own, yet the fact remains that in six out 
of the thirteen which bear his name, he specifically 
mentions Timothy as one who with himself is send- 
ing the greetings and communication to the 
churches. Three of these six letters were written 
during their missionary travels together, — 1st and 
2nd Thessalonians, and 2nd Corinthians; the other 
three were written from Rome while Timothy was 
there with Paul, — Philippians, Colossians, and Phile- 
mon. 

5 

Timothy's Service as a Comfort and Inspiration to 

St. Paul 

I think this deserves a separate mention. I think 
it has a rightful place in any catalog of Timothy's 
services to Christianity. Paul was no ordinary man. 
His services to Christianity were unique. Whatever 
contributed to making them what they were, was 
itself a service to Christianity. Timothy's love for 
Paul was a comfort beyond words to the lonely man 
who, bereft of all family ties, tried to fill the aching 
emptiness in his heart by claiming his younger 
friends as "sons," — and preeminent among these 
was his "beloved" Timothy. 

This was much, but it was not all. Timothy's 
love and companionship were more than a comfort 
to Paul the individual. They were an inspiration 
to Paul the missionary. Discouraged and defeated 



TIMOTHY 101 

at Athens, Paul reached Corinth broken in body and 
spirit. His life work was too great, the burden of 
his mission too crushing to be borne, even his faith 
and courage staggered in the presence of his diffi- 
culties and discouragements. He was alone in that 
great and wicked city. Alone — and he could not 
rise to the demands of the hour. All at once he 
became his old self and the Gospel message once 
more rang out from his lips with all its former 
power and intensity. What had happened? Only 
this — two friends had joined him and were com- 
forting his heart and staying up his hands. His old 
zeal flamed forth anew and his voice again hurled 
forth its challenging and victorious battle cry. In 
human fellowship and friendship this mighty man, 
shorn of his strength when left alone, renewed his 
courage, his optimism, and his power. The twain 
who thus through the voice of Paul smote iniquity 
in the high places of pagan Corinth were Silas just 
arrived from Berea, and Timothy with joyful tidings 
from Thessalonica. 

These then were the fivefold services rendered by 
Timothy to the early church and all the Christian 
centuries. Perhaps a sixth should be added, one 
already several times mentioned, that of handing 
on to others the unspeakable treasures he had 
received from the lips and harvested from the com- 
panionship of the great Apostle. 



102 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

IV 

Timothy, the Man — His Ability and Character 

If we had simply the above references and catalog 
of Timothy's services, we should be compelled to 
regard him as one of the ablest men of the New 
Testament — perhaps second only to Paul himself. 
On the other hand if we had no reference to him 
save in the two letters Paul wrote him, we should 
be compelled to draw almost precisely the opposite 
conclusion both as to his ability and character. If 
these letters were our only source of information, 
we should of course learn something of the match- 
lessness of Paul's affection for his "beloved son;" 
but our unavoidable conclusion would be that if 
these letters reflected anything like a just estimate 
of the man to whom they were written, he must 
have been, however amiable his purposes and im- 
pulses, young, weak, fickle, and subjected to all 
kinds of temptations — mental, spiritual, and physi- 
cal. 

Have we any right to assume that these letters 
in their warnings, entreaties, and counsels, give any- 
thing like a true portrayal of the real Timothy? 
Certainly no one was better acquainted with him 
than their author. For years they had travelled and 
labored together. Now it would be exceedingly 
strange if in letters meant originally for the eye of 
Timothy only, every word and thought in them that 
flowed from the pen of St. Paul were a total misfit 
for the recipient. If one now by honorable means 



TIMOTHY 103 

should chance to get possession of a private letter 
written by an older man to a younger friend, and 
if this letter was full of warnings and beseechings, 
it would be deemed that its contents were a revela- 
tion of the character of the younger man; or, at 
any rate, a revelation of the older man's conception 
of him. Does not this same rule hold with reference 
to Paul's letters to Timothy? 

I have said we should assume from these letters 
that Timothy was a very young man at the time 
they were written. But the facts are otherwise. It 
is probable that when he first joined Paul he was at 
least twenty years of age. At the time Paul wrote 
the first letter to him many years had elapsed, some 
estimate as high as fifteen. These years had been 
filled with arduous labor and disciplining expe- 
riences. It is difficult to reconcile the entire tone 
of these letters with the known facts in the case. 
Assuming their genuineness, as is here done, there 
are six possible inferences that may be drawn from 
a consideration of their contents, i. e., as to why 
Paul wrote just as he did. 

1st. That the letters in no way reflect the writer 's 
conception of either the character or the character- 
istics of his friend. 

2nd. That Paul totally misconceived the charac- 
ter of Timothy from beginning to end. 

3rd. That Paul's brooding parental solicitude 
imagined dangers and temptations which had no 
objective reality. 



104 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

4th. That he had been separated from Timothy 
for some time before the writing of the first letter 
and that he wrote as he remembered him as a youth, 
and the letter correctly reflects what he actually 
was when first associated with St. Paul. 

5th. That Paul had not necessarily been long 
separated from him, but like many a parent it was 
impossible ever to think of his "son" Timothy as 
having reached man's estate. Or, 

6th. We may conclude that Timothy was still at 
the time Paul wrote exactly what the contents of 
the letters seem to imply. 

Of these six possible inferences, I am inclined to 
bar out the first two entirely, and then accept a 
blending of the other four, — that Paul was over 
solicitous, that he could hardly yet regard Timothy 
as a grown man, that the letters reflect the counsel 
Timothy did need in his youth, and that some of his 
early traits and weaknesses still threatened to ham- 
per his largest usefulness and success. The first 
letter is from the hand of an old friend, nay, more, 
a "father," who is extremely solicitous that his 
"own son after the faith" shall in the difficult pas- 
torate at Ephesus, acquit himself splendidly for 
Christ and before the world. 

Some of Timothy's weaknesses and dangers as 
reflected in Paul's letters may be briefly alluded to. 

He seems to have been by nature somewhat lacking 
in robust moral and physical courage, so Paul ex- 
horted him to " fight the good fight of faith ... Be 
not thou ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor 



TIMOTHY 105 

of me his prisoner : but be thou partaker of the 
afflictions of the gospel according to the power of 
God. . . . Thou therefore endure hardness, as a 
good soldier of Jesus Christ. . . . Let no man 
despise thy youth. . . . Them that sin rebuke 
before all, that others also may hear. I charge thee 
before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the 
elect angels, that thou observe these things without 
preferring one above another, doing nothing by par- 
tiality." 

Nor does Timothy appear to have been altogether 
exempt from the common temptations that assail 
youth. So Paul deemed it necessary to warn him 
against covetousness. ''For the love of money is 
the root of all evil : which while some coveted after, 
they have erred from the faith, and pierced them- 
selves through with many sorrows. But thou, 
man of God, flee these things; and follow after 
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meek- 
ness. ' ' Paul also cautions him against impurity and 
rashness. "Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither 
be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure. 
. . . Flee also youthful lusts, but follow . . . 
with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." 

Temperamentally Timothy seems to have been im- 
pulsive, so Paul counselled him on this score as fol- 
lows: "Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a 
father . . . Against an elder receive not an 
accusation, but before two or three witnesses." He 
was also inclined to be speculative, argumentative, 
and disputatious — perhaps due to his Greek heritage 



106 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

through his father. At any rate this tendency 
needed curbing and Paul urges against it again and 
again. " Neither give heed to fables and endless 
genealogies, which minister questions, rather than 
godly edifying which is in faith ... Tim- 
othy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, 
avoiding profane and vain babblings, and opposi- 
tion of science, falsely so called . . . Hold fast 
the form of sound words . . . But foolish and 
unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do 
gender strifes. ' ' Timothy was also in danger of 
lacking that personal and professional energy and 
steadfastness which Paul deemed essential to a ser- 
vant of Jesus Christ, so he wrote-^-' * Neglect not the 
gift that is in thee, which was given thee by 
prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the 
presbytery. Meditate upon these things; give thy- 
self wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear 
to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doc- 
trine ; continue in them : for in doing this thou shalt 
both save thyself, and them that hear thee. . . . 
Wherefore I put thee in remembrance, that thou 
stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the put- 
ting on of my hands. . . . Study to show thy- 
self approved unto God, a workman that needeth 
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of 
truth. . . . But continue thou in the things 
which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, 
knowing of whom thou hast learned them. . . . 



TIMOTHY 107 

But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do 
the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy 
ministry. ' ' 

It would be easy to declare all this a true revela- 
tion of the real Timothy, while the record of Paul's 
testimony of him in his letters to various churches, 
and the important commissions entrusted to him, 
were the words and acts of an over fond father 
praising and trusting a child far beyond his merits 
and abilities. But such an assumption is unneces- 
sary and would be unjust. It is better to regard 
Paul's letters as correctly portraying the kind of 
man Timothy was by nature and inheritance before 
his conversion and enlistment by Paul in missionary 
service; and that these old natural and hereditary 
traits still occasionally showed themselves, demand- 
ing constant watchfulness and struggle on the part 
of Timothy to prevent their staining his life and 
marring his usefulness. 

On the other hand we should regard Paul's praise 
and his confidence in Timothy as picturing the man 
Paul wanted him to be, believed he would become, 
helped him to be, and, in the end, the kind of man 
he actually became. At one time Paul wrote exhort- 
ing him to be courageous. He believed in that to 
which he appealed. Timothy became that which his 
friend believed of him. So at the last when Paul's 
foes were increasing and his friends decreasing and 
death was near and escape hopeless, it was to Tim- 
othy, the one time timid-hearted, that he wrote to 
hasten to his side to share the last terrors when the 



108 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

weak and cowardly were deserting and in hiding; 
and Paul wrote in full assurance that his summons 
would be obeyed, that Timothy was a man who then 
feared the face of no foe. 



What Paul and Timothy Each Owed to the Other 

No pen can portray what these two friends were 
to each other. Their affection was so sacred and 
their friendship so inspiring that it seems useless, 
if not a profanation, to try to subject it to any 
analysis whatsoever. And yet as our theme is the 
greatness and significance of Paul's friendships both 
to himself, his friends, and the world, we are com- 
pelled to indicate some of the values of this par- 
ticular friendship or we prove false to our under- 
taking. 

Without intending any disparagement of Timothy, 
it must be confessed that we have to search his 
career very minutely to find a single strong mascu- 
line note in his nature. While he was well reported 
of when we first meet him, it is improbable that his 
name would now be preserved had not Paul's surg- 
ing love laid hold upon him and breathed into his 
heart some small part at least of the flaming fires 
of his own inspiration, and nerved and supported 
him with his own heart of oak. 

Paul drafted him into the soldiership of Jesus 
Christ and hurled him into those campaigns that 
were to change history. From the moment they 
met Timothy was his, soul and body. He committed 



TIMOTHY 109 

his all unto the older man, rendered him absolute 
obedience and unswerving loyalty. His life and 
services were at Paul's command. He was ready to 
do and dare anything to achieve that which Paul 
asked and hoped of him. There is something about 
his loyalty and unquestioning subjection that 
reminds one of the blind loyalty of a dumb brute to 
its master. With Paul he could achieve great 
things. But during his earlier years he was, when 
left alone, as some Samson shorn of his locks. 

Where a situation required merely tact and gen- 
tleness Timothy was a splendid success even when 
left by himself. But let difficulties mount up and 
men's passions and antagonisms be thoroughly 
aroused and inflamed, then he was no match for the 
occasion. Perhaps in later years he was able to cope 
with such situations, but certainly not at first. 

As a Christian man doubtless he would always 
have been faithful and exemplary without the 
friendship of St. Paul; but he would always, in my 
judgment, have moved in a small circle. What he 
became as a missionary, messenger, and soldier of 
the Cross, he owed to the transforming friendship, 
faith, and tuition of the mightiest of the Apostles 
and the mightiest of friends. 

When we turn the question about and ask what 
was the value of Timothy's friendship to Paul, we 
have quite another answer to discover. Primarily, 
he seems to me to have provided an exhaustless 
receptacle for the inexhaustible outpourings of the 



110 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

love and tenderness of one of the mightiest hearts 
which has ever enriched a world. Timothy himself 
alone afforded St. Paul an almost complete circle 
of domestic ties and relationships. In this respect 
he supplied what I may term a "feminine element " 
otherwise so sadly lacking in the friendships and 
life of Paul. There can he little doubt that Paul's 
brooding solicitude for Timothy furnished in itself 
one of the deepest sources of his earthly happiness. 
If it were conceivable that Timothy had ever sinned 
basely or treacherously, it is easy to picture Paul 
as weeping in uncontrollable anguish as did David 
over the sins and death of Absalom. 

The above is what I always think of first when I 
ask myself what value Timothy's friendship was to 
St. Paul. But I do not overlook nor underestimate 
the years of steadfast co-operation which he ren- 
dered in all of Paul's labors and enterprises; and 
there can be Jittle doubt that when Paul at last 
yielded the post of Commander-in-Chief of all the 
armies in Christendom, Timothy was one of the 
ablest and most efficiently trained of all the Corps 
Commanders upon whom the new responsibilities 
were henceforth to rest. 

We have already seen how anxious Paul was to 
have Mark with him as he stood at the gates of 
death; but to Timothy alone of all his score of 
friends did he directly write, imploring his presence 
in that hour when Nero was sharpening his axe and 
the craven-hearted were fleeing in terror. This alone 



TIMOTHY 111 

is sufficient testimony to what each was to the other 
and of the transformation wrought in the once timid 
young Timothy by the power of friendship with 
such a man as Paul. 



CHAPTER VI 

Luke— The Biographer of Paul 



Our knowledge of Luke is derived from the fol- 
lowing passages: — Luke 1:1-4, Acts 1:1-4, 16:10-17, 
20:5-15,21:1-18, 27:1, 28:16, Col. 4:14, 2 Tim. 
4:11, Phm. 1:24. And as author and historian, — 
the Gospel of Luke and The Acts. 



WE characterize Luke as "The Biog- 
rapher of Paul." This title is both 
inadequate and inexact as descrip- 
tive of Luke himself. He was 
both something more and something less, than the 
biographer of Paul. He was something more, for 
he was the biographer of a greater than Paul, even 
Paul's Master, Jesus Christ. And he was also the 
first historian of the Christian church. He was 
likewise something less than the biographer of St. 
Paul, for he never undertook to write the life of 
that great Apostle. Though he tells us much 
about Paul in the Acts, he neither narrates the 
story of his early life nor does he describe the 
tragic end. And though the doings of Paul almost 
exclusively occupy the last half of the book of Acts, 
yet even then the story of Paul the man, and also 

112 



LUKE 113 

the story of Paul the missionary and organizer, is 
strictly subordinate to that larger theme, the un- 
folding of which Luke has proposed to himself. 

The justification of our title for this chapter then, 
is this, — to express the most striking phase of Luke's 
relationship to his friend Paul. Our purpose is not 
to give an analysis of Luke's writings, nor a com- 
plete and critical study of his life. While the bio- 
graphical data concerning Paul found in Acts is in- 
cidental, and we might almost say accidental, to 
Luke's history of the Apostolic Church and its mis- 
sionary expansion into a world power, yet in these 
data we find the only account in the New Testament 
which resembles anything like a connected story of 
Paul's life after his conversion, including a brief 
summary of the main features of his three mission- 
ary journeys, his imprisonments and numerous legal 
examinations at Jerusalem and Caesarea, and his 
final voyage to Rome as a prisoner who had appealed 
unto Caesar. Fragmentary as all this is, yet it is 
the only story we have of the Apostle's life, and 
hence our title expresses a relationship of Luke to 
St. Paul not sustained by any other of the latter 's 
numerous friends. 

I 

Who Luke Was 

The first thing that impresses us when we raise 
this question, is the scantiness of our exact knowl- 
edge concerning a man who wrote one fourth of our 
New Testament. He never once names himself in all 



114 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

his writings. A few times he modestly employs the 
pronoun ' ' we. ' ' He never tells us anything about his 
individual services, though it is easy to gather that 
these must have been important. He hides his per- 
sonality as completely as possible behind the great 
events, themes, and lives, which he so graphically 
portrays. Shakespere himself is scarcely more com- 
pletely hidden from view in his works than Luke in 
his. 

In the entire New Testament Luke is referred to 
by name only three times, all the references being 
found in letters of his friend Paul. From these three 
references, and from statements of Luke himself in 
Acts, we gain some positive, though scanty, informa- 
tion concerning the man and his movements. From 
Col. 4 : 14 we learn that he was a physician, and that 
he was probably known unto the Colossian church 
as he sends them his greetings; and by comparing 
this verse, 14, with verses 10 and 11 of the same 
chapter, it is evident he was not a Jew, for Paul first 
enumerates all those with him who were of the 
"circumcision," and immediately afterwards states 
Luke was also with him, which excludes the latter 
from those who were Jews. 

From his first appearance in Acts where he is 
found suddenly and without explanation in the com- 
pany of Paul, Silas, and Timothy at Troas,_we learn 
that he is already a Christian and a preacher, for he 
writes: "After he (Paul) had seen the vision, im- 
mediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, as- 
suredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to 



LUKE 115 

preach the gospel unto them." Note the words 
1 ' called us for to preach, ' ' which necessarily includes 
the writer. Whether he had previously labored 
with Paul, whether they had ever met before, 
whether this meeting was prearranged or purely ac- 
cidental, — all are questions which it is impossible to 
answer. 

Farther information concerning the life and labors 
of Luke will be dealt with in other sections of this 
sketch. We are now merely inquiring who the man 
was, and what is known of his life previous to his 
joining his fortunes with those of St. Paul. The pos- 
itive facts have all been covered above; we may, 
however, speak of some guesses and assumptions, a 
part of which are quite likely true, others question- 
able, and still others manifestly impossible. 

By some it is thought that he was already well ac- 
quainted with Paul at the time he joined him at 
Troas; in fact, that he was a convert of Paul's, pos- 
sibly the fruit of his labors at Antioch. There is no 
evidence on this point either way. 

The conjecture that he was a Greek has much in 
its favor and nothing to discredit it. He had a 
Greek name ; in his writings he used the finest Greek 
of any New Testament author ; and, lastly, nearly all 
eminent physicians of the day were Asiatic Greeks. 
It is also believed that he was a native of Antioch, 
or, at any rate, a long time resident there. So an- 
cient authorities affirm, and this seems to be borne 
out by his detailed knowledge of men and events in 
that city. 



116 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

The tradition that he was one of the Seventy sent 
out by our Lord during his earthly ministry, and 
also that he was one of the two to whom Christ ap- 
peared on the way to Emmaus, are both alike clearly 
disproved by his own statement in the preface to his 
Gospel where he declares that he had gathered the 
material for his life of Christ from numerous frag- 
mentary written accounts and from, the oral testi- 
mony of eyewitnesses. Thus he plainly excludes 
himself from the circle of those who personally 
knew Christ when on earth. 

II 

Luke's Association with St. Paul 

With the possible exception of Timothy it is prac- 
tically certain that no other friend of Paul's was so 
continuously and for so many years directly asso- 
ciated with him as was Luke. 

We have already seen that Paul, Silas, and 
Timothy were joined at Troas by Luke. Whence he 
came, and why, and how he happened to fall in with 
the three missionaries, is entirely unknown; but it 
seems safe to say that it was no chance meeting. 
Or, if it was on the part of men, it yet was certainly 
the working out of one of Providence's vastest de- 
signs. It was here that the three baffled missionaries 
were tarrying when Paul in the night time saw his 
vision of a Macedonian man and heard his distressed 
cry voicing the moral hunger of all Europe. The 
Greek wording of Luke's account of this vision im- 
plies that the man of Macedonia was not an imper- 



LUKE 117 

sonal representative of that entire nation, but a 
certain definite individual. From this fact it has 
been plausibly conjectured that the "man of Mace- 
donia" was none other than Luke himself. 

If that were so, then the course of events was 
probably somewhat as follows : Luke, who was al- 
ready a Christian preacher, had recently been in 
Macedonia, presumably at Philippi, where he may 
have been living for some time practicing his pro- 
fession as a physician. He is intimately acquainted 
with the spiritual destitution of Macedonia and pro- 
foundly stirred by it. He feels incompetent to un- 
dertake the evangelization of so large a province by 
himself. He starts on a journey through Asia Minor 
to find Paul, or else to go back to Antioch, his 
former home, and secure helpers from that powerful 
church. Arrived at Troas he learns that Paul and 
his friends have already reached the city, and 
hastens to see them. 

He inquires about their labors and successes, and 
they have but a sorry tale to tell him of closed 
doors on every hand, how the Spirit had forbidden 
their preaching in Asia and Bithynia, and how they 
had had to pass through Mysia without opportunity 
to preach the Gospel. Now they are at Troas, the 
western extremity of Asia, and no door is open ; the 
Spirit has not yet pointed out where they are to 
labor, they know not whither to turn. While Paul 
is telling his story of baffled hopes and purposes, 
Luke's heart is burning within him. 



118 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

As soon as Paul is silent, Luke speaks pleading 
eloquently for Macedonia and Greece. Paul catches 
at the suggestion. Perhaps this is the call of the 
Spirit, perhaps this is the explanation why all other 
doors have been closed. Long the four men discuss 
the opportunities of Macedonia and Europe, and 
the closed doors of Asia. Paul desires only the 
Spirit's assurances. He is ready for new enterprises 
and hazards. Late that night the four kneel in 
prayer, Luke pleading for Macedonia, Paul for the 
Spirit 's guidance. In the still hours of the night 
that followed Paul dreams his dream, sees his vision, 
hears the Divine call through a human voice. The 
form of the "man of Macedonia" which he sees is 
the form of Luke "the beloved physician," and the 
Spirit bids him go, nothing doubting. 

Now all this is conjectural, but at the same time 
it is exceedingly probable. If true, it lifts Luke to 
an even higher plane than he has ever occupied 
before in Christian history, exalted as his position 
has always been. This would put him on the highest 
summit of the Divine world-plans at one of the most 
strategic moments of history. It would make his 
part in the conquest of Europe for Christianity 
scarcely less momentous than that of Paul himself. 
The fact that Luke does not identify himself with 
the man Paul saw in his vision, has absolutely no 
weight against the assumption that he was. With 
his habitual modesty he would never have spoken 
of this had it been so. He always kept self in the 
background as did John in his Gospel. 



LUKE 119 

Be the above conjectures as they may, the day 
after Paul's vision all doubt as to the Spirit's call 
is swept away and the four evangelists joyfully turn 
their backs on the closed doors of Asia and their 
glowing faces toward the open and beckoning doors 
of Europe. Arriving thither they hasten at once 
to Philippi, probably guided to this place by Luke 
himself. Here the foundations of a powerful church 
are laid by the four evangelists; but Paul and Silas 
are so aggressive as to be almost immediately thrown 
into prison, and on their liberation are driven from 
the city, or deem it wisest to withdraw. 

Here Luke himself suddenly disappears from the 
narrative in Acts, i. e., the personal pronoun "we" 
is dropped and the narrative resumed in the third 
person. He does not again use the word "we" in 
connection with the labors and travels of Paul until 
a period of about seven years had elapsed when the 
latter, on his third missionary journey, was again 
rejoined by himself here in Philippi where he had 
been left at the time of Paul's first invasion of 
Europe. Where Luke had been all these years, and 
what he had been doing, is entirely unknown; for 
again his modesty prevented his telling us anything 
about his own movements, save where he could hide 
them behind the personality and deeds of his hero- 
friend St. Paul. It is quite generally believed that 
he had spent these years laboring by himself in 
Philippi. There is only one serious doubt to be 
cast upon this, and that is that in Paul 's letter to the 
Philippians in after years he makes no reference 



120 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

to such a period of service on the part of Luke. 
This is not conclusive by any means; for even if 
Luke had been there so long, there was no special 
reason for Paul's referring to a work which would 
have been so much better known and understood 
by the Philippians than by himself. It may also be 
remarked in passing that neither did Paul in his 
letter make any allusion to Silas who we positively 
know was joint founder of the church with himself, 
Luke, and Timothy. The fact is, the nature of 
the contents of the letter did not call for any 
references to either Luke or Silas. 

But whether at Philippi or elsewhere it matters 
little, of this one thing we may be sure and that is 
that to such a man as Luke these years were not 
barren or unfruitful. 

Rejoining Paul at Philippi then, on the latter 's 
return trip through Greece and Macedonia on his 
third missionary journey, Luke became his insepa- 
rable companion for all the sad remaining years 
of the Apostle 's life. With Paul he made that long, 
solemn, and, in many ways, mournful final journey 
to Jerusalem, endeavoring at times with others to 
dissuade the Apostle from hazarding his life among 
his foes in that tragic city. 

He was a witness of Paul's arrest in Jerusalem 
and his companion, or in closest touch with him, 
during all his weary years of imprisonment at 
Caesarea. This is evidenced by his detailed knowl- 
edge of every move in Paul's many legal examina- 
tions, his deep penetration of the hidden motives 



LUKE 121 

controlling the actions of the various officials before 
whom Paul was accused and tried. That he was 
with Paul here is also proved by his verbal reports 
of Paul's many speeches in his own defense, and 
of the powerful effect these had on his judges and 
their comments thereon. 

When at last it was determined to send Paul a 
prisoner to Rome in accordance with his appeal 
unto Caesar, it was Luke with one other friend, 
Aristarchus, who voluntarily shared Paul's long 
journey and mortal peril. With Paul he suffered 
shipwreck, with Paul the Imperial prisoner he 
entered the Eternal City, awaiting the unknown. 
Here, too, he voluntarily remained those long and 
terrible years, that he might comfort his friend in 
his chains and assist him in executing his dungeon- 
born plans for the evangelization of that mighty city, 
which was leaving him to languish in a felon's cell. 
We learn this fact about Luke's religious activities 
here at Rome from Paul's letter to the Colossians 
where he speaks of Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and 
Luke, as his "fellow laborers." 

It is barely possible that for very brief lengths 
of time Luke was out of the city, as he did not 
always send greetings to the churches to which Paul 
wrote from time to time. But whether this is true 
or not, one thing we do know and that is that he 
not only shared Paul's first and milder imprison- 
ment but was by his side during his second and 
more bitter confinement. In Paul's second letter to 
Timothy — the last he ever wrote — he speaks of the 



122 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

terrible rigor of his situation and the mortal peril 
he was in. He tells of the whereabouts of his 
faithful lieutenants on distant fields of conflict and 
service, and of the cowardice and desertion of some 
in Rome. In heart-broken tones of loneliness, and 
yet with infinite gratitude, he writes "only Luke is 
with me." 

What a simple eulogy of this quiet but fearless 
friend. The self-advertising and loud-voiced are 
hiding in craven terror, Luke "the beloved physi- 
cian" is still at his post, ministering to a suffering 
heart as once he ministered to suffering bodies. Let 
peril come, let death come, let Nero sharpen his axe, 
let all others flee, — here is another of that noble, 
self -sacrificing profession who is ready to hazard his 
life at the call of duty and honor. In that hour to 
which heavenly hosts bore witness and back to which 
all after ages have gazed in wonder and awe, the 
names of two men shine forth out of the murky 
darkness with a light and glory which neither time 
nor circumstance can ever dim — Paul awaiting his 
physical death and spiritual crown, and Luke, phy- 
sician and soldier of the Cross, by his side holding 
his hand and steadying his courage for his last 
journey, the journey of his spirit to its heavenly 
rest. 

In that scene and hour Luke won new honors for 
the medical profession, undying glory for Christian 
courage, and unfading laurels for human friendship. 

Paul, thou wert the master-friend as well as 
master-Christian. Luke was with thee to the last, 



LUKE 123 

and the once timid Timothy and cowardly Mark 
are hastening over the waves to share thy peril. 
"Faithful unto death" — such are they whose souls 
thou hast set on fire with the flame of thine own 
mighty spirit. 

Ill 

Luke's Service to Christianity 

We have already noted three phases of the services 
of Luke the missionary and preacher, — that he was 
one of the founders of the Philippian church, that 
he did evangelistic work at Rome, that for years he 
was the faithful attendant of St. Paul, ministering 
to his comfort and encouraging him in his labors. 

Important as these particular forms of service 
were, yet the monumental achievement of Luke was 
his authorship of the Acts and the Gospel which 
bears his name. If he was a Gentile, as he un- 
doubtedly was, then it is entirely likely that he was 
the only Gentile author of any book of our inspired 
Scriptures. It is remotely possible that Job was 
not written by a Jew, but it is more likely that 
it was. 

Great as has always been the acknowledgment of 
the church's debt to Luke as an author, it is doubt- 
ful if his share in the writing of the New Testament 
has ever been fully appreciated. We are accustomed 
to regard Paul as the author of far more of the 
New Testament than any other man. In number 
of books this is of course true, he having written 
thirteen out of a total of twenty-seven, John stand- 



124 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

ing next with only five to his credit. But when we 
consider volume of matter, apart from the number 
of books, we find to our surprise that to Luke is 
due the preeminence. 

In a New Testament of 273 pages such as now 
lies open before me, I find that the Gospel of Luke 
and the Acts together total 74% pages, or six pages 
more than one-fourth of the entire New Testament; 
while Paul's thirteen letters total just 70 pages, or, 
in other words, 4% less than Luke's two books. 
Together these inseparable friends wrote 144%, 
leaving 128% to the credit of all other writers of 
New Testament Scripture. 

Now let us consider for a moment the value and 
significance of Luke's writings, apart from all ques- 
tions of bulk. In doing so we can of course but hint 
at certain points, their true value and significance 
can never be measured, much less attempted in a 
brief sketch of the author like this. 

There are two special values of the Gospel of 
Luke over and above those of the other three, — 
numerous facts not elsewhere reported, and the 
spirit of the universality of Christ's message as 
designed for all men and races. This is not to deny 
that the other Gospels may record facts which Luke 
omits, or that they do not have merits lacking to 
his, indeed, such is the case ; but here we are simply 
dealing with the importance of his own contribution 
to a complete understanding of the life, mission, 
and message of our Lord. 



LUKE 125 

It is said that Luke records over forty events and 
parables not elsewhere referred to. *See below. 
He alone tells us of the angels' song, and of the 
shepherds' visit to the manger of the infant Jesus; 
of the repentance of one of the thieves on the cross 
beside our Lord's; and of the walk to Emmaus 
after the resurrection. He alone records the parables 
of the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, and the 
Rich Man and Lazarus. He alone traces Christ's 
descent back to Adam, speaks of Christ's enrollment 
in the Roman Empire, tells us of the aged Simeon, 
and the prophetess Anna, of Christ's reference to 
Elijah's mission to the heathen woman, of the ten 
lepers cured and of only the one Samaritan return- 
ing to render his thanks. He alone gives the account 
of Christ's refusal to permit John and James to 
call down fire upon the Samaritan villages. And 
also, it is he alone who records the great songs 
of the nativity of our Lord — the Benedictus of 
Zacharias, the Magnificat of Mary, the Nunc Dimittis 
of Simeon, the Ave Maria or Angel's greeting to 
Mary, and the Gloria in Excelsis. Luke's Gospel 
is also the gospel of the poor and outcast, the gospel 
of womanhood and infancy, and the gospel of 
prayer. 

This Gospel also, as has been said, strikes a note 

of universality not attained in any of the others, 

and it was undoubtedly written more particularly 

for the Gentile world. The proof of this is abundant. 

*See Vincent's ''Word Studies in the New Testament. ' ' 
Vol. I. 



126 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

In the first place, there is its dedication or ascription 
to ''his excellency" whom Luke designates by the 
name of " Theophilus, " probably a pseudonym for 
some particular Roman official and friend of his^ 
The entire contents of the book also bear traces of 
this note of the universality of the Gospel message. 
There are comparatively few quotations from the 
Old Testament, as these would be unfamiliar to his 
readers, or not regarded as authoritative even if 
given. He explains the meaning of Hebrew words 
and geographical references, and quotes the words of 
the aged Simeon, of Zacharias, and of John the 
Baptist, all of which declared the light of the Gospel 
was to be the light of the Gentiles. Likewise Luke 
specially emphasizes Christ's gentle dealings with 
the Samaritans and his frequent commendations of 
their true nobility of character. 

Such, in brief, are some of the notable character- 
istics of this the most literary and artistic of the 
Four Gospels. Incidentally it might be mentioned 
that the book is a revelation of the innermost nature 
of its author by showing to us what specially inter- 
ested him and the matchless skill, beauty, and 
tenderness with which he reports and portrays the 
facts he has gleaned concerning our Lord and his 
life and ministry. This Gospel reveals its author 
as a man of beautiful spirit and delicate taste, and 
of sincere piety joined with broad intellectual grasp 
and keen mental insight. 

Passing now to the book of Acts, we have before 
us the most indispensable, perhaps, of all the books 



LUKE 127 

of the New Testament. It is both the supplement 
and the complement of the Gospels, without which 
they would not be made perfect. It seems to me 
that any one of the four could better be spared — 
provided the other three were left — than the book 
of Acts. The Gospels quite largely duplicate each 
other, but there is no book that duplicates the story 
of Acts. If any one of the Gospels had never been 
written, the world would probably never have been 
conscious of its loss. Had Acts never been written, 
the lack of such a book would have been felt in 
every generation of Bible students, and the gaps in 
our knowledge of the Apostolic Age irreparable. 
To be sure some small part of this information is 
found in an unsystematic and fragmentary form in 
the various letters of St. Paul: but those letters 
themselves would be largely incomprehensible with- 
out the narrative of Acts, and their value much less. 
In Acts we have recorded the fulfilment of 
Christ's promise of the Spirit's coming, the be- 
ginning of church organization, the first admission 
of Gentiles into the Christian church, the final 
settlement of their relation to the Mosaic law and 
Jewish customs, biographical facts about the Apostle 
to the Gentiles, a brief outline of his three mission- 
ary journeys and the part his many friends played 
in making them such triumphant successes, brief 
extracts or summaries of his great sermons and of 
his addresses in his own defense before Felix, Festus, 
and Herod, together with the account of his final 
voyage as a prisoner to Rome. 



128 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

The book ends most abruptly and in an apparently- 
unfinished manner with Paul, though a prisoner, 
yet "in his own hired house, and receiving all that 
came unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and 
teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus 
Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him. ' ' 

Every generation of Christians has deplored 
the fact that Luke does not relate all that befell 
Paul in Rome, nor give the story of his final martyr- 
dom. Such facts would add greatly to our historical 
knowledge and satisfy our eager interest in all that 
concerned the life of the Apostle. Now, however, 
there is a feeling that the book is unfinished, and 
various explanations have been attempted. Some 
believe Acts was to have been followed by a third 
book which was never written. 

Be that as it may, it is altogether probable that 
Acts was written after Paul's death, that Luke was 
more familiar with the details of his last years and 
martyrdom than any other man, and that he could 
have told the whole story had he chosen. Why did 
he not do so, was the story too painful, or had he 
other reasons? I believe the latter to have been the 
cause, and that it is not impossible to discover what 
these reasons were. I believe they lie in the nature 
of the book itself and Luke's definite plan in its 
composition. For formless and planless as the book 
seems in its rapid passing from topic to topic and 
from men to men, it yet, rightly understood, moves 
unswervingly toward its foreseen goal and climax. 

In the last half Paul's name is so constantly 



LUKE 129 

before us, and the account of his activities so ex- 
clusive, that he seems the hero of Luke's narrative. 
But this is only in appearance, it is not the fact for 
a moment. Much as Luke loved and admired Paul, 
and much as he had to report of his achievements, 
he never for a moment loses sight of his supreme 
purpose. He begins the narrative with the Apostles 
at Jerusalem ; then he tells the story of the carrying 
of the Gospel message by the deacons into Samaria ; 
Christianity next reaches Antioch and becomes a 
grand missionary enterprise ; from Antioch it sweeps 
across mountains and deserts, and on over islands 
and seas until it reaches Imperial Rome herself. The 
Church has arrived at the heart of the world. It has 
become from a mere Jewish sect in an obscure corner 
of the Roman Empire the prospective religion of 
mankind, — dominant, imperial, universal. Like Rome 
herself it now sits serenely upon the Tiber's Seven 
Hills and takes in all nations, kindreds, and tongues, 
in its world-sweeping, prophetic glance. 

Why, then, should Luke concern himself with a 
man and his fate; however great the man, he had 
a vaster and mightier theme. He would not end 
his narrative with a tragedy, but with a shout of 
triumph — a triumph which was yet to topple over 
the palace of the Caesars and undermine their 
throne. Such a book must not concern itself with 
the tragic fate of an individual, but with the glory 
of a Gospel enthroned. Luke ends his story with 
Paul preaching that Gospel, for this was the true 
end and climax of the command of the risen Christ 



130 SAINT. PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

in Acts 1:8 — "Ye shall be witnesses nnto me both 
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and 
unto the uttermost part of the earth/' This com- 
mand in itself gives in compact phrase and outline 
the story of Acts, and the unfolding of the fulfilment 
of which Luke makes his supreme motive and guide. 

So then Paul's death need not be told. Its telling 
would have been a literary blemish and a moral 
and spiritual anticlimax in a book of such vast design. 
Paul is not the hero of Acts, not for a moment, his 
personality and doings are but the necessary mate- 
rial in the architecturally magnificent plan of Luke. 
The one only and unrivalled hero — if such a term 
be allowable — is Jesus Christ and the world-con- 
quering sweep of his splendidly aggressive and 
triumphant message to mankind. 

Having now briefly pointed out the permanent 
elements and world-significance and value of the 
two books written by Luke, perhaps we should also 
note in passing that some see another motive and 
purpose in their composition. It is held that both 
works had an immediate and exigent purpose; that 
they were in reality and primary intent masterly 
defenses of the Christian religion; that they were 
written at a time when the heavy hand of the Roman 
emperors was everywhere being murderously laid 
upon the followers of Jesus Christ, and that Luke's 
purpose was to show that there was no essential or 
historic reason why the church and state should 
misunderstand or be hostile to each other. 



LUKE 131 

The evidence produced in support of this con- 
tention has considerable weight. Both books are 
dedicated to a Roman official of high position, — one 
already instructed in the fundamentals of the new 
religion ; and through him it was hoped and expected 
that they would have wide circulation in the official 
world. Both books connect important facts in 
Christian history with synchronous dates in the 
affairs of the Roman Empire. Both books portray 
the spiritual nature of the kingdom of heaven, 
together with the universality of its appeal and offer 
of salvation. The Gospel shows how the persecu- 
tions of the founder of Christianity were instigated 
by the bigotry of the Jews, not waged by Rome; 
rather did the Roman official Pilate pronounce Christ 
guiltless of any offense against the laws of the 
Empire; and Acts tells the story of how the chief est 
Apostle of all, though examined again and again 
before Roman tribunals, was every time pronounced 
innocent of the charges against him. The implica- 
tion of all this, and the inference Luke intended the 
official world to draw, was that if Rome should in 
his day begin a policy of persecution it would be 
a most radical and unwarranted departure from 
her historic attitude of impartiality and generous 
tolerance of the new and innocent religion. 

How far such an apologetic motive may have 
prompted the writings of Luke we cannot say. But 
even granting weight to the above reasoning, we 
do not thereby in any way negative what has been 



132 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

said about the grander and more enduring purpose 
and value of his two masterpieces of Christian 
literature and inspired Scripture. 

IV 

The Congeniality of Luke and Paul 

The congeniality of these two friends, Luke and 
Paul, is something surpassingly fair to contemplate. 
Their mutual affection ran so deep and clear as 
scarcely ever to find expression in words — one im- 
mortal phrase sounds the depths and compasses the 
hights of Paul's regard for his friend, "Luke the 
beloved physician." What a commentary is this on 
the personality of Paul's "fellow laborer." What 
a revelation of the winsomeness of the man, and 
also of his gentleness and helpfulness in his profes- 
sional capacity. All agree that Paul was far from 
being a well or strong man physically. And I have 
always believed that Luke must have been his 
personal physician, as well as inseparable friend 
and fellow traveller and missionary. 

That Luke loved Paul with equal fervency is more 
than proved by his account of Paul 's unapproachable 
services to Christianity, by his years of devoted 
attachment to Paul's person and work, and by his 
dauntless heroism in remaining with the doomed 
prisoner when none other stood by his side, and 
when his loyalty alone would have been sufficient 
cause to involve him in the same martyrdom that 
Paul suffered. 



LUKE 133 

Nor was the congeniality of these two men solely 
one of the heart. It was not limited to a common 
loyalty to Christ. It was not measured by their 
equal moral and physical courage in the face of 
persecution and death. That congeniality was 
something larger than any of these things, or than 
all of them combined. It extended to the widest 
realms of the whole intellectual and spiritual 
natures of the two men. 

In culture, in character, in knowledge of the 
world, in statesmanlike grasp of the predestined 
conquests, sway, and imperial might and majesty 
of Christianity as a world force, not another man 
of the entire New Testament, save Paul only, is 
for a moment, to be compared with Luke. These 
two men alone were cosmopolitan and, in the best 
sense of the phrase, "men of the world." All other 
New Testament authors and all other men therein 
referred to, including every one of the Twelve 
Apostles, were, compared to these two, mere pro- 
vincials. Whatever the depths of others' spiritual 
insight and grasp of the great fundamentals of 
Christianity, yet they were what is termed " other 
worldly" every one of them, and significantly 
lacked anything approaching a comprehension of 
the true relation of Christianity to civil government 
and national life and institutions, or of the destined 
place of Christianity as a world-conquering and 
world-transforming force. Possibly toward the end 
of their careers both Mark and Titus may have 
approached something of the cosmopolitan outlook 



134 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

of Luke and Paul; but in breadth of culture and 
depth of spiritual insight and grasp, they never 
approximated the same class. 

While Luke is not to be compared with Paul as a 
preacher or man of action and practical achieve- 
ment, yet he does rival him as a thinker and his- 
torian, in the breadth and solidity of his learning; 
and in his grasp of the essentials of Christianity 
as a religion and of its future sway as an imperial 
and conquering force in the world's affairs; while, 
on the other hand, he surpasses Paul as a literary 
artist, and somewhat also in the bulk of his literary 
output. 

His theological views were practically the same 
as St. Paul's; and they held identical views as to 
the universality of the Gospel appeal, message, and 
power, as meant for and adapted to men of every 
race, degree of culture, and moral status or 
condition. 

While Paul undoubtedly loved Timothy the best 
of all his friends, yet that love was the brooding 
paternal affection of an older and stronger man for 
one whose very weaknesses called out his protecting 
strength ; but his love for Luke was of an altogether 
different nature, one that in no way came into 
rivalry with his affection for Timothy, — the love of 
one strong man for another of equal strength, years, 
and ability. There is a fundamental lack of equality 
and mutualness about the friendship of Paul and 
Timothy; they never were and never could be on 
the same plane. There is no such disparity in the 



LUKE 135 

mutual love of Paul and Luke. Titus was a man of 
more independent and aggressive practical achieve- 
ments than Luke, in all other respects he must be 
put in another and somewhat lower class. 

Take all of Paul's friends and consider all their 
points and characteristics — mental, spiritual, intel- 
lectual, and personal — and Luke will be found the 
only man in the list, and the only man of the entire 
New Testament, whom we can think of as anything 
like Paul's peer, the only one whom we can con- 
jecture to have been a complete companion for the 
varied and inexhaustible riches of Paul's mind. 

What royal banqueting of heart and soul must 
have been theirs — whether in conversation or in 
silence — as they journeyed together over the fabled 
and classic land of Greece; as they voyaged from 
Caesarea to Rome and as shipwrecked mariners 
wintered in Malta; as together with imperial vision 
they labored to evangelize Imperial Rome herself; 
as they sat together in the lonely nightwatches in 
Paul's felon's cell, awaiting the fall of Nero's 
bloody, releasing, crowning axe — and in the death 
of the one "they were not divided." Luke, thou 
man of the "unsaid word" and unheralded deed, 
the great Apostle knew thee as thou wert, and as 
his mighty heart beat in rhythmic music to thine 
own his unconscious but answering hand penned 
thine immortal epitaph — "Luke the beloved physi- 
cian. ' ' 



136 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

V 

What Paul and Luke Each Owed to the Other 

All through our brief review of this holy marriage 
of two of the mightiest souls whose love and friend- 
ship has ever blessed this world of ours, we have 
been constantly finding new material on the topic 
we have now reached. We need not repeat or 
enlarge upon what has gone before, merely add a 
word or two farther. 

In Paul's letters we find many medical terms and 
allusions which are undoubtedly due to his years 
of constant intercourse with St. Luke. On the other 
hand in Luke's writings, which in all probability 
were both composed after Paul's death, we find 
about two hundred words or phrases common in St. 
Paul's epistles. This proves the influence of the 
latter upon Luke, or else that the phraseology was 
common to both in their familiar intercourse and 
evangelistic labors. On either supposition it shows 
the profound affinity of the two men — mental, 
literary, and theological. 

Had there been no Paul, what would have been 
the story of Luke's personal services to Christianity? 
Had there been no Paul, of what would Luke have 
written beyond the first third of Acts? Had there 
been no Luke, what would we know of the Apostolic 
Age, of Paul's life and missionary journeys, and 
where would we find the key to the knotty questions 
of his epistles? 



LUKE 137 

I have characterized Luke as "the biographer of 
St. Paul." The phrase does not do him justice. 
Let me amend it by calling him "the most indis- 
pensable friend of St. Paul." But he is far more 
even than that. He need not shine by borrowed 
light ; he is himself a luminary of the first magnitude. 
With Peter, John and Paul, he must forever rank 
as one of the four colossal figures of the New Testa- 
ment. Though inferior to the other three in the 
founding and spreading of Christianity, yet in re- 
vealing its essential spirit and nature and in record- 
ing its mighty advance and world significance and 
destiny, he surpasses the first two and rivals the 
third. 

man of matchless heart and matchless pen, we 
need not compare thy merits nor praise thy great- 
ness. With thee we have heard a mother's 
"Magnificat" and listened to the angels' song 
above Judea's hills: with thee we have journeyed 
with a Gospel despised and persecuted at Jerusalem, 
till we have seen it enthroned on the Tiber's Seven 
Hills. 



CHAPTER VII 

Aquila and Priscilla — Paul's Fellow Craftsmen and 
Fellow Evangelists 



Our information concerning their activities is 
based upon the following passages: — Acts 18:1-3, 
and 18-26, Rom. 16 :3-5, 1 Cor. 16 :19, and 2nd Tim. 
4:19. 



THE names of Aquila and Priscilla have a 
fairly familiar sound to every student 
of the New Testament; but if asked to 
tell something definite about them I 
doubt if one in ten of average Bible readers 
could give any information beyond the fact that 
they were tentmakers: some probably would not 
even recall that fact. Perhaps this is not altogether 
surprising as they are named but six times in the 
entire New Testament, their names being found in 
only four books, — three times in Acts 18, once in 
Romans, once in 1st Corinthians, and once in 2nd 
Timothy. Our entire information concerning them 
is all contained in just eleven verses, — six in Acts, 
three in Romans and a fragment of a verse in both 
1st Corinthians and 2nd Timothy. 

138 



AQUILA AND PRISCILLA 139 

Our conclusion from this might be that they were 
persons of very minor importance, that there is 
little we can know of them, and that that little is 
scarcely worth the trouble to acquire ; that it would 
add nothing essential to our Biblical knowledge, to 
our acquaintance with great and inspiring charac- 
ters, or to our understanding of the more notable of 
Paul's friends, or of the breadth and intensity of 
his friendships and their value to his heart and to 
his labors. Any such hasty judgment as this would 
be totally erroneous. Aquila and Priscilla are 
persons we cannot afford not to know. We ought 
to make their acquaintance for many reasons : — 
for their own inherent worth, for the extension of 
our knowledge of early missionaries and their labors, 
and for our farther understanding of Paul's 
capacity for friendship, and how he always made 
this divine endowment tributary to his life mission. 

I 

Who Aquila and Priscilla Were 

Who then were Aquila and Priscilla? In the first 
place they were husband and wife. And they are 
the only husband and wife in all Scripture of whom 
it can be said that one is never named without the 
other. There is no other couple in Scripture who 
were both so continuously and unitedly engaged in 
religious work. Twice Aquila, the husband, is 
named first; four times the wife is named first, 
showing that there was practically no difference in 



140 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

their ability and zeal in the Lord's service. All 
these facts give them a place of unique importance 
and distinction. 

Aquila was a Jew of "the dispersion" born in 
Pontus, a Roman province in northeastern Asia 
Minor bordering on the Black Sea. Of Priscilla's 
birthplace and nationality we know nothing, some 
conjecturing she was a member of an eminent 
Roman family of similar name. When they are 
first introduced to us in the narrative in Acts, they 
are fresh arrivals at Corinth having come there 
directly from Rome whence they had been driven 
out by a decree of the Emperor Claudius expelling 
all Jews. From secular history we learn that this 
decree was promulgated because of constant turmoils 
in the Jewish quarters, which arose on account of 
the preaching of Christ by unknown disciples. 
Whether Aquila and Priscilla were among those who 
first told the Gospel story in Rome, and if so, where 
they first learned it, are questions which can never 
be answered. Some like to believe that they were 
among the founders of the Roman church. But when 
Luke first mentions Aquila he calls him a "certain 
Jew," and not a "disciple" as would have been 
more natural had he already been a Christian; nor 
does he say anything of any previous service the 
couple had rendered Christianity. These facts would 
seem to argue that they were not Christians at the 
time of their arrival in Corinth, or at any rate had 



AQUILA AND PRISCILLA 141 

never been aggressive workers. One other fact 
concerning them is given us at this point, namely, 
both husband and wife were tentmakers by trade. 

II 

What Aquila and Priscilla Owed to Paul and He to 

Them 

When Paul reached Corinth, worn out by his defeat 
and discouragement at Athens, he found Aquila and 
Priscilla already there. Now in after years in his 
first letter to the Corinthians he declared that he 
himself planted the church in their city. This 
throws a side light on his influence upon Aquila and 
Priscilla. The fact that they were there before him 
and yet had taken no steps to establish a Christian 
community, argues that either they were not 
Christians at the time, or else they were not active 
workers. 

But the fact that immediately thereafter and 
during the entire rest of their lives they were fear- 
lessly and aggressively laboring for Christ, seems to 
prove conclusively that whether they owed their 
conversion to St. Paul or not, they certainly did owe 
to him their enlistment for life in that work to 
which Paul gave "the last full measure of his 
devotion." So here again are fresh laurels of 
friendship and friendship's holiest fruitage, with 
which to adorn anew the brow of the great Apostle. 
Aquila and Priscilla owed to Paul the knowledge of 
the joy of service, and will to all eternity owe to 
him the joy of the memory of their service and its 



142 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

rich and blessed rewards. He entered their humble 
home a weary, heart-worn traveler, unprepossessing 
in appearance, feared, hated, and persecuted by 
their fellow countrymen, and scoffed and jeered at 
by the cultured and philosophical Greeks among' 
whom they were temporarily residing. He spoke, 
his face lightened, his voice thrilled, the flame of 
his spirit set on fire their own — and they were his 
and his Lord's for time and for eternity. But Paul 
also owed them much. It was not all giving and no 
receiving on his part. 

In the first place they gave him a home when he 
was in sorest need of a home's shelter and gentle 
ministrations. He reached Corinth and continued 
while there as he afterwards wrote, "in weakness, 
and in fear, and in much trembling." Aquila and 
Pris cilia were in worldly circumstances at the time 
but poor tradesmen ; but they learned that a fellow- 
craftsman in dire straits physically, socially, and 
mentally, had arrived in their town. That was 
enough for them, no matter who he was or that 
others looked at him askance, their hearts and home 
flew open to receive him. They gave to him their 
hearts and their home, he gave them entrance 
into the joy of his life mission. Years afterwards 
from this same city he wrote to the church at Rome 
where Aquila and Priscilla were again living, calling 
them his "helpers in Christ Jesus," — a blessed and 
grateful remembrance of what they had been to 
him and his work in Corinth and later on in Ephesus. 



AQUILA AND PRISCILLA 143 

Nor were their generous hospitality, tender friend- 
ship, and loyal co-operation the only services they 
rendered Paxil. At some period of their labors 
together in the cause of Christ, they fearlessly im- 
periled their own lives that they might save his. 
Paul's words concerning this occurrence are — "who 
have for my sake laid down their own necks/ ' 
Friendship could go no farther, loyalty to Christ's 
service could go no farther. They deemed his life 
more indispensable to Christianity than their own, 
death had threatened him, they stepped into the 
breach, Paul was saved. 

Here is another obligation Paul was under to his 
friends. Without friends his world-service could 
never have been what it was; nay, his life itself 
would have been forfeited long years before the 
end finally came, for again and again during his 
perilous travels and labors did they save his life. 
Here then is another tribute to the glory of friend- 
ship, another measurement of the inestimable value 
of the friendships of St. Paul. This deed of Priscilla 
and Aquila was well known to the early church. 
And the obligations under which the church of that 
day rested because of their act of heroism was freely 
and gratefully acknowledged everywhere, for Paul 
wrote of them — "unto whom not only I give thanks, 
but also all the churches of the Gentiles." Here is 
an added reason why we as Christians and Bible 
students should recognize the significance of the 
lives of these friends of St. Paul. We of this day 
and generation owe to them as did the early church 



144 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

the saving of Paul's life, and we should as gener- 
ously acknowledge the obligation. 

It is to be noted that in the account of this brave 
deed husband and wife were one as in all else. 
Priscilla's name is in this instance given first, and 
all the pronouns used in Paul's recital of the occur- 
rence are in the plural number. ''Greater love hath 
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for 
his friends." So these tentmakers reached the 
loftiest hights of friendship, Christ's own words so 
declaring. 

Just where and when this defense of Paul's life 
took place we cannot tell, as Luke makes no refer- 
ence to it in Acts ; but it may very well have been 
at Corinth or at Ephesus in both of which cities they 
labored with him for long periods of time. In 
Corinth Luke informs us that at one time the Jews 
raised a mob against Paul, and that during the 
disturbance Sosthenes, another friend of Paul's, was 
openly beaten by the Greeks, even before Gallio's 
judgment seat, and without interference on his part. 
If this was not the occasion when Aquila and Pris- 
cilla saved Paul's life, then in all probability it was 
at Ephesus while they were laboring together there. 
It will be recalled what a mob Demetrius the silver- 
smith raised in that city, saying among other things 
to the infuriated multitude — "Moreover ye see and 
hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost through- 
out all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned 
away much people, saying that they be no gods, 
which are made with hands." Then later follows 



AQUILA AND PRISCILLA 145 

this account of the course of the attack which was 
precipitated: — "And the whole city was filled with 
confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristar- 
chus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in 
travel, they rushed with one accord into the theater. 
And when Paul would have entered in unto the 
people, the disciples suffered him not. And certain 
of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent 
unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure 
himself into the theater." 

Among the "disciples" who restrained and pro- 
tected Paul at the hazard of their own lives, may 
very well have been Aquila and Priscilla; and it 
may have been in their own home where he was 
forcibly restrained and outwardly guarded. But be 
the place and time where and when they may, of 
the facts of their protection and saving of his life 
there can be no question; and he always carried 
with him a tender and vivid recollection of the 
loving bravery of his staunch-hearted helpers and 
friends, Aquila and Priscilla, his fellow craftsmen 
and fellow evangelists. 

It is also probable that Paul's deep interest in 
the Roman church, and his minute knowledge of its 
condition and affairs, were derived from his inter- 
course with these same friends ; and that his ardent 
and ever increasing desire to visit those far away 
brethren of the Imperial City was kindled in like 
manner, or, perhaps by their direct appeals that 
he should do so. 



146 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

III 

Aquila and Priscilla's Manifold Services to 
Christianity 

In enumerating the manifold services to Chris- 
tianity rendered by Aquila and Priscilla it is not 
necessary to repeat here what has already been said 
of their relation to Paul, — how they furnished him 
a home at Corinth, aided him there in all his labors 
for Christ, and, as we have seen, once saved his life. 

Another far-reaching service which they rendered 
to Christianity was also given through a single 
individual to whom they gave invaluable instruction 
in the things of Christ. This story may best be 
given in Luke's own words. "And a certain Jew 
named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent 
man, and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. 
This man was instructed in the way of the Lord: 
and being fervent in spirit, he spake and taught 
diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the 
baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in 
the synagogue : whom when Aquila and Priscilla 
had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded 
unto him the way of God more perfectly. And when 
he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren 
wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, 
when he was come, helped them much which had 
believed through grace : for he mightily convinced 
the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the Scrip- 
tures that Jesus was Christ." 



AQUILA AND PRISCILLA 147 

"What a tribute is this to the courage of this 
humble, consecrated couple — tentmakers by trade — 
who ventured to instruct the most eloquent and one 
of the most learned men of the New Testament ; and 
what tact they showed in doing this privately, prob- 
ably in their own home, and in such a way as to 
give no offense. As Apollos afterwards went over 
Greece thrilling and convincing multitudes of men 
with the story of the Gospel of Christ, his pow-a* 
and success were in no small measure the fruitage 
of the sowing of Aquila and Priscilla. 

Paul is usually spoken of as the founder of the 
church at Corinth. He himself declares that he 
"planted" it. This is of course true in the sense 
that he was the preeminent leader in that work, 
but it must be remembered that all the while he 
was laying those foundations — "a year and six 
months" — he had with him four consecrated and 
efficient helpers, — Silas, Timothy, and Aquila and 
Priscilla. So this husband and wife rendered that 
church a threefold service, — they entertained Paul 
while laboring there; they themselves were his 
"helpers in Christ" during the entire year and a 
half he spent in laying its foundations ; and later on, 
they, by the voice of Apollos, though far distant 
themselves, yet spake the word in that city. 

When Paul finally left Corinth to hasten to Jeru- 
salem to keep one of the feasts, so profound was his 
faith in the ability and consecration of Aquila and 
Priscilla that he took them with him to Ephesus; 
and after the briefest possible stay there hastened 



148 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

on his journey, leaving them to carry on the work 
independently. Here they remained diligently at 
work during probably the entire interval elapsing 
between his second and third missionary journeys to 
that region — a period of some three years — in which 
time he visited Caesarea, Antioch, and Jerusalem; 
and then slowly retraced his steps going "over all 
the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, 
strengthening all the disciples." At length havLig 
arrived at Ephesus once more, he found Aquila and 
Priscilla still there and still faithfully at work as 
he had left them. Hence they, far more than Paul 
himself, were the real founders of the Ephesian 
church, a church which at various times enjoyed 
the preaching and pastoral services of such men as 
Apollos, Paul, Timothy, and, lastly, John, "the 
beloved disciple." 

When Paul reached Ephesus he joined Aquila and 
Priscilla whose faithful work had been quietly 
spreading for three years, and, as everywhere else, 
he at once became, without any effort on his part 
but by right of his imperial genius, the dominant 
personality and central figure in the evangelistic 
campaign already well under way. Things now 
began to move quickly and soon multitudes were 
converted, books of magic were publicly burned, and 
an uproar was on. 

Here Paul labored two years, probably enjoying 
the assistance of Aquila and Priscilla during the 
entire time, for it is from this city he wrote to the 
church at Corinth and sent the greetings of these 



AQUILA AND PRISCILLA 149 

friends, and also the greetings of "the church that 
was in their house." So their services to the church 
at Ephesus were the founding of the church itself, 
laboring for its welfare some five continuous years, 
and, lastly, furnishing their home for the regular 
gathering place of believers for worship. And it 
may be said in passing that this is our reason for 
believing it may have been at Ephesus where they 
saved Paul's life from the attacks of the mob which 
was incited to murderous frenzy by the malignant 
and crafty eloquence of Demetrius the silversmith. 

We next hear of these devoted missionaries and 
evangelists back at Rome, and again, as at Ephesus, 
there was "a church in their house." To them and 
to the church Paul sent remembrances and greet- 
ings in his letter to the Romans which was written 
at Corinth. 

The last time their names occur in the New Testa- 
ment is where Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, 
again sends them his greetings. From this letter 
and his greetings we learn that they were now a 
second time in Ephesus and were upholding with all 
their old time fervor and zeal the hands of their 
young pastor Timothy in his critical and laborious 
ministry in that city. This is the last information 
we have concerning them. If this were the last 
service they ever rendered Christ and his church, 
what a climax to what useful lives. What fairer 
evening could there have been to such a blessed 
couple than spending the moments of its sunset 



150 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

glory counseling, aiding, and steadying a young min- 
ister in a great church of which they themselves in 
a quiet way were the real founders. 

Whether Aquila and Priscilla were great in intel- 
lectual ability or not, we have no means of judging ; 
but we do know they were giants in character and 
mighty in usefulness. 

Great preachers they entertained, instructed, and 
protected. Their homes became churches in two con- 
tinents. Great cities and varied races knew them 
face to face, and heart to heart. Their life work is 
inseparably associated with Rome, Corinth, and 
Ephesus. Their names on earth are inseparably 
associated with those of Apollos, Timothy, and Paul. 
Their reward in heaven is that of righteous men and 
prophets for the Master himself hath said — "He 
that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet 
shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that re- 
ceiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous 
man shall receive a righteous man's reward." 

Their whole lives after meeting with Paul at Cor- 
inth and after they came under the spell of his impe- 
rial heart and master passion, were lives of hardship, 
of personal danger, of ceaseless toil, of homelessness 
or incessant changing of their homes, as peril or duty 
compelled or dictated. What endless thousands of 
miles they traveled over seas and mountains and 
plains, ever hastening onward on the King's busi- 
ness. How they toiled at their trade of tentmaking 
as did Paul himself that they might be independent 



AQUILA AND PRISCILLA 151 

and self supporting, and devote all their powers to 
the service of God. 

They were willing to go through life with never a 
permanent home in order that the homeless churches 
of Christ might find homes in their temporary abid- 
ing places. In the providence of God they were led 
from city to city and from continent to continent, 
here to found a church, there to furnish persecuted 
believers a place of worship, again to instruct some 
young preacher, furnish some prophet of the Lord 
a home, or defend some life at the hazard of their 
own. What a husband and wife were they, what 
unity of heart and head and hand. Match them in 
Scripture you cannot. Who in the annals of time 
are their peers ? 

IV 

The Majesty and Divinity of Human Friendship 

There is something about the friendship of these 
two with St. Paul and its significance to the world 
that is almost too sacred for eulogy or comment. 
It need not be eulogized. The simple telling of the 
tale is sufficient. In Paul's dying hour he sent them 
his heart's last greetings. In life he had multiplied 
his personality and presence and power through 
them and their labors ; after his death he was still 
laboring through them in his old pastorate at 
Ephesus. And how they, too, multiplied their per- 
sonality and power through the gifted and eloquent 
tongue of Apollos as he hurried from city to city of 
ancient Greece, outshining with his resplendent 



152 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

eloquence her own native orators, famed in song 
and story, even as he had a sublimer and loftier 
theme than they. 

Surely we can know Paul only as we know his 
capacity for friendship. We can know the greatness 
of his life and labors only as we measure the life 
and labors of his friends, among whose names, 
shining with a lustre all their own, we read those of 
the two humble tentmakers Aquila and Priscilla, 
husband and wife, one in consecration on earth, one 
in glory in heaven. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Apollos — The Man Whose Career Proves There Was 
No Jealousy in Paul's Friendships 



The story of Apollos 's career is found in the fol- 
lowing passages : — Acts 18 :24, 19 :1, 1st Cor. 1 :12, 
3 .4-22, 4 :6, 16 :12, and Titus 3 :13. 



AT first glance the title chosen for our 
sketch of Paul's friendship with 
Apollos may sound derogatory to each 
man. The denial itself may seem to 
belittle our conception of the greatness of Paul by 
the very fact that we should deem it essential to 
be made. 

But such is not really the case. It rather en- 
hances his greatness by showing that he was free 
from those petty vanities and weaknesses which 
have commonly marred the characters of so many 
of the greatest men of history. It presents St. Paul 
to us as preeminent among the preeminent in the 
lesser virtues of life as well as in the more rugged 
and striking ones. How many of the great men in 
church and state have been bitterly jealous not only 
of their chief rivals, but even of the successes and 
honors which were gained by their own subordinate 
friends and devoted adherents. Paul gathered 

153 



154 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

about himself a circle of brilliant young men; but 
in their talents, honors, and successes, not only was 
there not a taint of jealousy or suspicion on his 
part, but rather encouragement, pride, and re- 
joicings. 

I have also said that our title may sound deroga- 
tory to a man of Apollos's gifts, for it might be said 
that he and his career are used merely as a foil to 
set off a minor virtue of St. Paul. But neither is 
this true. Rather does our title do him honor also 
by singling him out as a man of such mark that he 
alone of Paul's score of friends, was the one whose 
talents were best calculated to arouse jealousy in 
the heart of any man capable of harboring that 
passion. This absence of jealousy between these two 
great men is to my mind the very crown and halo of 
their friendship. Never do I recall this particular 
friendship of Paul's without thinking of this as its 
chief beauty and glory. 

I 

Who Apollos Was 

Apollos has already been introduced to us in the 
sketch of Aquila and Priscilla; but in order that 
each study may be complete in itself, let us assume 
that we are now to make his acquaintance for the 
first time. 

Like Aquila, who was born in Pontus, Apollos was 
also a Jew of "the dispersion," born on the con- 
tinent of Africa in the city of Alexandria. We first 
meet him at Ephesus. He is described as "elo- 



APOLLOS 155 

quent, " the only man so spoken of in the entire 
Bible. This fact alone will give us some idea of his 
remarkable powers. We are also told that he was 
"mighty in the Scriptures, instructed in the Way of 
the Lord, and fervent in spirit." Here we have the 
portrayal of a splendidly equipped preacher: he 
knows his Bible, has command of the facts of 
Christ's life, and is wholly consecrated to his work. 

Nor is this the entire story of his equipment and 
endowments. He was on a missionary or evangelis- 
tic tour when he arrived in Ephesus, where Aquila 
and Priscilla were already quietly at work founding 
a church, left there for this purpose by their friend 
St. Paul. 

At once upon his arrival Apollos entered into the 
synagogue and spake " boldly, " hence he was a 
fearless man. He taught "diligently," and hence 
was faithful as pastor and guide. Naturally Aquila 
and Priscilla went to hear him. They discovered in 
the man and his message but a single deficiency, a 
deficiency of knowledge of fact only: in all other 
respects — eloquence, learning, consecration, fidelity, 
and fervency — he was the ideal, the master preacher. 

The one deficiency they discovered was this — he 
knew only the "baptism of John." He had never 
heard of Pentecost or the "baptism of the Spirit." 
This presented a difficult problem to Aquila and 
Priscilla, who were but tentmakers and lay members 
of the church, while the speaker was the most elo- 
quent and one of the most learned men of his genera- 
tion. Yet duty was plain, and where duty called the 



156 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

feet and tongues of Aquila and Priscilla were never 
laggard nor afraid. With fine moral courage and 
delicate tact they took Apollos "unto them," prob- 
ably to their own home, even as years before at 
Corinth they had shared their humble lodgings with 
the persecuted Paul. Here "they expounded unto 
him the way of God more perfectly. ' ' 

With the simplicity and humility of the truly 
great, Apollos was glad to sit at the feet of these 
quiet, self-supporting, lay evangelists, while he 
drank in from their glowing lips an access of power 
which in the years to come was mightily to sway 
ancient Greece with the torrent of his resistless 
eloquence as he proclaimed the Gospel message. 

In ability as a preacher Apollos probably out- 
ranked Barnabas, "the son of exhortation," and 
stood first among all the friends of Paul. In fact he 
ranked with Paul himself in this particular talent 
and clearly outshone him in popular gifts and 
graces, even though he may have been inferior in 
the sweep of his powers and the depth of his spirit- 
ual insight. In general ability also he seems to 
have been regarded, at least at Corinth, as fully 
Paul's equal; though beyond question this was an 
erroneous judgment, still it is a remarkable tribute 
to his essential greatness. Paul also speaks of 
Apollos in the same category with himself and St. 
Peter, another unconscious tribute to his brilliant 
qualities. 

In one other respect besides his popular eloquence, 
Apollos would appear to have been the equal if not 



APOLLOS 157 

the superior of St. Paul, that is, in tact and in the 
ability to proclaim an unpopular message without 
arousing the personal hostility and antagonisms 
which everywhere accompanied the preaching of the 
latter. There is no hint of any mob spirit being ex- 
cited in any place where Apollos preached. Nor was 
this due to any cringing or keeping back of any part 
of the message of the Cross. In Ephesus we are told 
he spoke " boldly/' yet no man lifted a hand against 
him. All through Greece "he mightily convinced the 
Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the Scriptures, 
that Jesus was Christ;" yet no personal violence 
was done him. Contrast all this with the murderous 
assaults made upon Paul in these same cities of 
Ephesus and Corinth, and in other places. 

Of course the difference may be accounted for in 
part on other grounds ; but after all due allowances 
are made, it yet seems to be true that Apollos could 
preach with boldness equal to St. Paul's and in the 
very same cities, without arousing the personal ani- 
mosity excited by the latter. 

The confidence in his ability and consecration 
which Apollos inspired on the part of the brethren 
at Ephesus, who had heard him preach and knew 
him personally, is fully attested by their letters 
which unanimously commended him to the churches 
of Greece when he was disposed to go thither on an 
evangelistic tour. His successes among that classic 
but scoffing people were brilliant in the extreme. 
He "helped them much which had believed through 



158 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

grace, ' ' and fearlessly met and splendidly overthrew 
the doubts and arguments of unbelievers. 

II 

Why Paul Might Have Been Jealous of Apollos 

It is time now to address ourselves directly to 
the negation contained in our general characteriza- 
tion of Apollos and his relation to St. Paul, and 
raise the question why the latter might have been 
jealous of him, or, — to phrase our inquiry so that it 
will cast no shadow of reflection upon Paul — why 
would almost any other man save Paul have been 
jealous? There are three obvious reasons why such 
might have been the case, — Apollos 's great gifts, 
his method of evangelism, and his personal popu- 
larity. Let us examine separately and with some 
degree of minuteness each one of these jealousy- 
provoking facts. 

First, Apollos 's great gifts. Apollos was an 
orator, Paul was not in the ordinary sense of that 
term. The former was strongest where the latter 
was weakest. Apollos had remarkable gifts both of 
person and voice, Paul had neither. And Paul was 
not only conscious of Apollos 's gifts but also aware 
of his own deficiencies ; and not only was he aware 
of them but also sensitive on the subject, more 
sensitive, perhaps, than to any other one thing. 
This is shown in his letter to the Corinthians by his 
almost pathetic description of his limitations and 
weaknesses when he first came among them, of 
which he afterwards wrote: — "And I, brethren. 



APOLLOS 159 

when I came to you, came not with excellency of 
speech or of wisdom, declaring nnto you the testi- 
mony of God. . . . And I was with you in 
weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And 
my speech and my preaching was not with enticing 
words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the 
Spirit and of power." Note the last phrase "in 
demonstration of the Spirit and of power," by 
which the Apostle endeavors to point out what 
equipment he did have which atoned for his lack 
in other respects. All this was written after 
Apollos 's brilliant and successful mission to Corinth 
had taken place. 

In Paul's words it is easy to see there is a con- 
scious or unconscious comparison of himself with 
Apollos, which shows how stung and humiliated he 
was by his own lack of the outwardly more attrac- 
tive graces of public speech. This fact is again 
brought out by his farther references to the same 
thing in his second letter where he says — "but 
though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge." 
But the strongest evidence of all as to how humil- 
iated he was is his quotation of the biting jibes of 
his critics and detractors. These are his words — 
"For his letters, say they, are weighty and power- 
ful ; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech 
contemptible. ' ' When we consider how this scoffing 
criticism rankled in Paul's memory it would not 
have been surprising if even such a man as he had 
felt some slight twinges of jealousy of a man so 
gifted as Apollos. 



160 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

We have also said that Apollos's "method of 
evangelism" was calculated to incite Paul's 
jealousy, or, rather, would have incited the jealousy 
of a weaker and lesser man. What was that method 
of evangelism? Either by chance or by design 
Apollos followed Paul's back track and preached 
in the latter 's old parishes where he had undergone 
untold toil and peril in establishing churches. 
Apollos came to these with letters of commendation, 
thus assuring him a cordial welcome wherever he 
might go. This in itself would not necessarily have 
aroused any suspicion or jealousy, had it not been 
for the fact that many other men followed Paul with 
malice aforethought on purpose to undermine his 
influence and assail his claims to Apostolic standing. 
In view of these facts had Paul been any ordinary 
man, he would have been suspicious of Apollos [s 
designs. Such suspicion would seem to have been 
justified by the factional outbreak which followed 
Apollos's visit to Corinth, which rent that church in 
twain and cost Paul no end of labor and anxiety 
and tears, letters, messages, and messengers, before 
tranquility was even partially restored. Nothing 
could have been more natural for one at a great 
distance than to suppose that Apollos was purposely 
undermining his influence and intriguing against 
him. 

There was one other reason suggested why Paul's 
jealousy of Apollos might have been kindled, — the 
latter 's personal popularity. Few great men can 
view with equanimity the praise of another who is 



APOLLOS 161 

constantly compared with themselves, and contin- 
uously praised to their own direct disparagement. 
And the situation is aggravated if that rival is 
gaining his popularity among a people whom he 
himself has most faithfully served, for whom he has 
endured every peril, and whom he loves most pas- 
sionately. Such was the situation of affairs at 
Corinth, the condition at one time of things between 
Paul and Apollos. 

Paul had founded the church and labored there 
for nearly or quite two years with unabating ardor 
and often in deadly peril; he loved the Corinthians 
with a pureness and strength of devotion resembling 
domestic affections of the highest type. He "wrote" 
to them as to his "beloved sons," he "spoke" to 
them "as unto his children." And farther he said — 
"For though ye have ten thousand instructors in 
Christ, yet ha^e ye not many fathers : for in Christ 
Jesus 1 have begotten you through the gospel. 
. . . For out of much affliction and anguish of 
heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that 
ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the 
love which I have more abundantly unto you. . . . 
I will not be burdensome unto you: for I seek not 
yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up 
for the parents, but parents for the children. And 
I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; 
though the more abundantly I love you, the less 
I be loved." 

The exigencies of his life work took Paul far from 
this church of his "begetting" and the children of 



162 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

his love. Some time afterwards along came the 
brilliant and captivating orator Apollos, and stopped 
at Corinth. He had powerful letters of recommen- 
dation from the brethren at Ephesus. The church 
doors swung wide to receive him, he spoke, people 
were charmed, a great section of them praised him 
to the skies. Before this they had regarded Paul 
as the master-preacher. Now Paul was nowhere. 

But some were still loyal to their former pastor 
and outspoken in his defense. A storm quickly 
brewed and burst in fury, the church at Corinth was 
torn into warring fragments. Some shouted the 
name of Paul, others of Apollos, still others of 
Cephas, and yet others, turning from all these party 
cries, shouted the name of Christ making that holy 
name itself the war cry of a faction. Certain ones 
of the Corinthians of the household of Chloe bore 
tidings of these things to Paul who was at the time 
laboring at Ephesus. 

Here was another cause for arousing his jealousy 
of this popular idol, this haloed orator Apollos. So 
there were three sufficient reasons for jealousy be- 
tween these men, any one of which by itself was 
enough to ruin the peace of the most generous 
friends. 

And it should be borne in mind also that the work 
at Ephesus was at that very moment demanding all 
Paul's resources of mind and heart and strength. 
It seemed impossible for him to bear the strain of 
anxiety about distant Corinth. A less consecrated 
man would have been undone by such news at such 



APOLLOS 163 

a time. Jealousy or utter discouragement would 
have infuriated or prostrated a moral weakling. 
It was from here at Ephesus that Paul wrote to the 
distracted church at Corinth describing what at that 
very time and place he was enduring. Here is the 
story in his own words: — "For I think that God 
hath set forth us the Apostles last, as it were ap- 
pointed to death : for we are made a spectacle unto 
the world, and to angels, and to men. . . . Even 
unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, 
and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain 
dwelling-place; and labor, working with our own 
hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, 
we suffer it: being defamed, we entreat: we are 
made as the filth of the world, and are the off- 
scouring of all things unto this day." And later 
referring to this period he wrote in his second letter 
to Corinth — "For we would not, brethren, have you 
ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, 
that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, 
insomuch that we despaired even of life." All this 
was calculated to inflame his enmity against Apollos 
who was the cause, or one of the causes, of the out- 
break at Corinth, and who had superseded him in 
the affections of a large section of that church. 

But Paul was equal to the moral demands of the 
situation. Let us examine the proof and sift the 
evidence to the bottom. Our characterization of 
Apollos in the title to this sketch may seem to have 
prejudged the issue. A decision and judgment may 
appear to have been pronounced and the question 



164 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

closed. If so let us reopen it, let us assume it is 
not settled, let us hear the evidence on both sides 
and weigh it with candor and open mind. 

Ill 

The Argument That Paul Was Jealous of Apollos 

There are several passages scattered through 
Paul's two letters to the Corinthian church which 
are sometimes cited as evidence that Paul was 
jealous of Apollos and of his popularity at Corinth. 

Let us now summon these before us, a part of 
which have already been quoted once. The first is 
this: — "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came 
not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declar- 
ing unto you the testimony of God. For I determined 
not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, 
and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, 
and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech 
and my preaching was not with enticing words of 
man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit 
and of power: that your faith should not stand in 
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. ' ' Here 
the phrases "excellency of speech" and "enticing 
words of man's wisdom," are said by some to be a 
slur upon the gifts of Apollos; and the claim for 
himself that he preached "Christ and him crucified 
. . in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" 
are said to be insinuations that his rival was de- 
ficient in the more valuable elements of a preacher's 
equipment, possessing merely the showy gifts that 



APOLLOS 165 

dazzle without edifying. All this is declared to 
reveal a spirit of jealousy. 

The next citation in proof of the same assertion 
is this : — ' ' Need we, as some others, epistles of com- 
mendation to you, or letters of commendation from 
you?" This again is quoted as a slur upon Apollos 
who went to Corinth with letters of commendation 
from the Ephesian brethren. 

Still another statement which, it is urged, betrays 
the same spirit, is where Paul proclaims that he 
does not " boast in another man's line of things 
made ready to our hand." It will be remembered 
that Apollos went to Corinth after Paul had founded 
the church with incredible labor and peril. Farther 
passages of like tenor with the preceding might be 
recalled, but these are the strongest of all. What 
shall be said of this line of argument, and the cita- 
tions upon which it is based? Do they clearly refer 
to Apollos? If so, can we reasonably deny the 
charge that Paul was at times bitterly jealous ? The 
evidence adduced is strong, if accepted at its face 
value, without sifting or critical examination. The 
counter-evidence must be not only equally strong, 
but overwhelming and conclusive. Let us hear the 
other side. 

IV 

The Proof That Paul Was Not Jealous of Apollos 

We shall adduce three lines of argument in sup- 
port of our contention that Paul was never jealous 
of his gifted friend Apollos. 



166 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

First, we will examine the three passages quoted 
as evidence that he was. As to the first of the three, 
we frankly admit, as has already been done, that 
Paul was sensitive about his lack of oratorical 
graces, and deeply pained by the mocking criticisms 
of some members of the Corinthian church. But 
sensitiveness over one's own deficiencies is not proof 
of jealousy of another's gifts. Nor can the pointing 
out of one's own powers be twisted into proof that 
this implies a lack of the same in another man. 
Much less can this be done in the case in hand* 
for in the preceding chapter Paul has unqualifiedly 
put Apollos in the same category with himself and 
St. Peter. When we come to Paul's reference to the 
fact that some had letters of commendation, 
although this was true in the case of Apollos, it 
must be remembered that he wrote as though he 
had several persons in mind, those who were in 
great need of such commendation to give them any 
hearing at all. Apollos never had any such difficulty. 

As to the last passage about boasting of work 
which another man had started, there never was a 
man freer from such a spirit than Apollos, judging 
by all we do know positively about the man and his 
character. In addition to the above counter-argu- 
ment as to who is meant in these passages, it is 
known beyond question that Paul did have many 
personal enemies whose characters and activities 
exactly corresponded to the requirements of the 
passages under examination. Large sections of his 
letters to Corinth, especially of the second, refer 



APOLLOS 167 

beyond dispute to those adversaries, and in the 
absence of strong proof to the contrary the only 
legitimate way to interpret passages of like tenor 
is in line with the clearly known facts. It is incon- 
ceivable that such a man as Paul would openly laud 
and covertly stab the same man in the same letter. 

Our second proof that Paul was never jealous of 
his friend Apollos may be gathered up in a single 
negative declaration, — In all that he ever said or 
did, there is not the slightest open criticism or de- 
preciation of Apollos the man, or of his gifts, or of 
his services to Christianity. Paul did not hesitate to 
speak his mind freely in regard to Barnabas, Mark, 
and Peter, when he held them blameworthy, nor 
would he have done in the case of Apollos. 

We now come to our third line of proof which is 
positive and constructive : first, all that Paul said 
in praise of Apollos and his gifts; second, an exam- 
ination of one of his primary purposes in writing 
1st Corinthians; and, lastly, a significant request 
that he made of Apollos. 

First, then, let us listen to the high praise Paul 
bestowed upon his friend, and his gifts and services. 
"For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another. I 
am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is 
Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom 
ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the 
increase. So then neither is he that planteth any- 
thing, neither he that watereth ; but God that giveth 
the increase. Now he that planteth and he that 



168 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

watereth are one : and every man shall receive his 
own reward according to his own labor. For we are 
laborers together with God." 

Some phrases here are of special significance : 
Paul and Apollos are both equally ''ministers . . 
by whom the Corinthians had believed." Paul had 
"planted," Apollos had "watered," — a service 
equally necessary and equally honorable as the plant- 
ing. He that "planted" and he that "watered" 
were "one," — one in honor, one in usefulness, one 
in mutual respect, love, and unity. They were 
"laborers together," no differences, jealousy, or 
schism between them. More generous words Paul 
could not have spoken concerning his brilliant friend 
and co-worker. Let none, then, stand up and accuse 
him of the dastardly duplicity of covertly sneering 
at a man whose name he couples with his own in 
the holiest of associations. 

The next positive evidence we wish to cite in 
proof of our contention, is the fact that one of the 
prime motives of Paul in writing 1st Corinthians was 
to allay the factional strife at Corinth; and this he 
strove to do by proving to the church that there 
was no personal antagonism between himself and 
Apollos, but that their work at Corinth was equal 
in importance and honor; and that between them 
were the closest ties of mutual respect and affection. 

Our last evidence is a statement of Paul's in the 
latter part of his first letter to the Corinthians, — 
"As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired 
him to come unto you with the brethren: but his 



APOLLOS 169 

will was not at all to come at this time; but he 
will come when he shall have convenient time." 
Notice the words "our brother Apollos." Now at 
first glance this whole passage is seemingly but a 
commonplace statement of slight and merely tem- 
porary significance : but in reality it is an illuminat- 
ing revelation not only of the ties existing between 
the two, but also of Paul's estimate of Apollos and 
of the latter 's innermost character and lofty prin- 
ciples. 

The situation at Corinth was, in brief, this: 
Grievous immorality among professed Christians and 
factional strife in the church, which two things 
threatened its very life. Paul was at Ephesus unable 
to go to Corinth, or deemed it inadvisable that he 
should do so. He had already dispatched one or 
two letters, but these had failed to alleviate the 
crisis. He had requested Timothy to visit the 
church: but either he had not yet arrived, or Paul 
expected small results from his efforts. Apollos had 
now returned to Ephesus or was near and in close 
touch with Paul. Unintentionally his mission at 
Corinth was one of the prime, if not indeed the 
original, cause of the factional outbreak there, and 
of the subsequent heartless disparagement of Paul 
and his gifts. 

In view of all these considerations, had Paul been 
jealous the last thing he would have desired would 
have been the return of Apollos to Corinth, lest his 
presence there without any effort on his part should 
increase his own popularity and Paul's unpopular- 



170 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

ity, and so the schism in the church be made worse 
than it was already. A jealous man would have 
feared this result however innocent Apollos might 
be of any attempt to bring it about. A suspicious 
man would have expected Apollos to foment dis- 
cord. But Paul's love for his friend and admira- 
tion of his gifts prompted him to urge Apollos 
to hurry back to Corinth believing he was the very 
man to settle all difficulties. What a tribute is this 
to Paul's faith in the personal honor of Apollos, and 
also to his confidence in his ability and tact to 
achieve successfully such a delicate mission. And 
what a scorching rebuke is here to every suspicion 
of any unworthy sentiments on the part of Paul. 
And such a request must have been cheering to 
Apollos to know that his friend scorned to believe 
any of the ugly rumors emanating from Corinth, 
that he had been a willing party to the undermining 
of Paul's popularity there. 

But Apollos declined the mission. Apparently he 
did not deem it an expedient time for him to appear 
at Corinth just then when matters were at such a 
critical turn. He foresaw the possible danger his 
presence would cause to the peace of the church, 
owing to a probable outbreak on the part of some of 
his fanatical admirers; and so for the sake of the 
peace of the church, and out of consideration and 
courtesy toward his friend Paul, he would not be 
-even the innocent occasion of farther humiliation 
to him. He cherished the well-being of the church 
and the feelings of Paul as of more value than any 



APOLLOS 171 

personal triumph and glorification. This is an at- 
tractive revelation of the character of that high- 
minded gentleman, the eloquent orator Apollos. 
Surely vanity had no place in his makeup. In 
reviewing this incident, so pregnant with latent 
significance, I scarcely know which man to admire 
most. In fact there is no choice between them, the 
conduct of each was high beyond either criticism or 
praise. 

So, then, the world has been enriched by at least 
one friend, yes, two, whose souls were never scarred 
by the footprint of that hateful monster — jealousy. 
Paul was ever utterly selfless in his admiration of 
the powers of his friends; and was always pushing 
them forward into new fields of opportunity, useful- 
ness, and honor. His master passion was Jesus 
Christ and his kingdom; if others could do more in 
-certain places or along certain lines, his heart re- 
joiced that God had given such gifts unto men. 
Like Moses of old he was ever ready to exclaim: — 
"Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that 
all the Lord's people were prophets and that the 
Lord would put his spirit upon them. ,, 

V 

What These Two Friends Owed Each Other 

What Paul and Apollos owed each other in the 
■delights of friendship and the joy of intellectual 
fellowship, we can never fathom. What they owed 
each other in the service of Christ, while we can 



172 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

never fully measure it, yet we can, at least, indicate 
some of the lines of their mutual helpfulness. 

In the first place, Apollos indirectly owed to Paul 
his knowledge of the baptism and power of the Holy 
Spirit whereby he thrilled and convinced sceptical 
Greece with the sweep and majesty of an eloquence 
such as her classic lands had never heard. It was 
first at Ephesus directly from Aquila and Priscilla 
that he gained knowledge of and access to this new 
power; but it will be remembered that these humble 
folk had been enlisted in the Lord's work by Paul 
at Corinth ; and it was he who had brought them to 
Ephesus and there left them to found a Christian 
community, while he hastened on to Antioch and 
Jerusalem. So Apollos owed the highest reaches of 
his lofty eloquence to the work which Paul had 
wrought in the lives of his hosts of Corinth. 

Paul also owed much to Apollos. It was Apollos 's 
splendid "watering" of what he had "planted" 
that left the latter free to reside at Ephesus for so 
many years, and found and build up churches in 
all western Asia Minor. After Apollos 's mission to 
Greece was completed, he appears to have returned 
to Ephesus and there labored with Paul for some 
time in that great city. 

That these friends never lost track of each other 
is proved by Paul's request in his letter to Titus 
written years afterwards near the end of his life. 
The reference is as follows: — "Bring Zen as the law- 
yer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that 
nothing be wanting unto them." 



APOLLOS 173 

It is the opinion of some scholars that Apollos had 
just been in conference with Paul somewhere in 
Greece, and that he and Zenas were the bearers of 
the letter to Titus who was then in Crete. It is 
farther believed that the two men, Zenas and 
Apollos, were on some kind of a mission under the 
direction of Paul. Possibly they were going to the 
East to secure legal evidence in his behalf for his 
second trial at Rome which was already foreseen. 

It is also believed by some that upon Paul's re- 
arrest Apollos at once joined him in Rome ; but this 
is uncertain. Be that as it may, in our last glimpse 
of Apollos we find him still in touch with Paul, the 
two still laboring in harmony for the advancement 
and glory of the kingdom of their common Lord and 
Master; and it is fair to assume that they had been 
thus constantly in close intercourse ever since they 
labored together at Ephesus. 

Tradition affirms that Apollos spent his later years 
as Bishop of Corinth. Whether this is so or not, of 
one thing we may be certain, that his eloquent 
tongue was never silent until his brow received the 
crown, and that wherever he told the gospel story 
there Paul though dead was yet speaking. 



CHAPTER IX 

Titus — The Most Efficient of Paul's Friends 



The record of Titus's career is found in the fol- 
lowing passage:— 2nd Cor. 2:12-13, 7:5-17, 8:1-24, 
12:18, Gal. 2:1-4, 2nd Tim. 4:10, and all of Paul's 
epistle to him. 



OUR characterization of Titus will in all 
likelihood arouse strenuous dissent. The 
names and services of Luke, Timothy, 
Barnabas and others, will at once come 
to mind, and it will be said "surely Titus was 
inferior to any and all of these." It may even be 
slightingly asked — "Who was Titus anyway?" 

By casual reading of the New Testament it must 
be confessed that his name, personality, and work, 
might not attract and fix the attention. It would 
be recalled that Paul addressed a letter to him, and 
perhaps also the farther fact that he left him in 
Crete on some sort of a mission. Beyond this little 
would be remembered by any except the more diligent 
students of Paul's life and the New Testament as a 
whole. But to have it asserted that Titus was one 
of the most efficient men of the early church will, 
perhaps, surprise even those who are fairly conver- 
sant with his career. 

174 



TITUS 175 

By the word, "efficient" as used in this sketch, we 
mean as an achiever of immediate practical results 
in difficult situations. Not for a moment is he to be 
compared with Barnabas and Apollos as a preacher ; 
nor was he a writer like Luke and Mark. But he 
was a man who could do things at any time and any- 
where; and whenever Paul had a task too difficult 
for any of his other friends, he always turned to 
Titus, and Titus never refused and never failed. 

I 

Who Then Was Titus ? 

Of the man himself we know very little. Of his 
birthplace and early life, we know nothing. We do 
not know when or where he first met St. Paul, nor 
what their earlier associations were. The scantiness 
of our knowledge is due largely to the fact that 
Luke never once mentions his name in the entire 
book of Acts, though during the period covered by 
this narrative Titus was rendering indispensable 
services in behalf of Paul and for the good of the 
early church. 

Why Luke totally ignored the great part played 
by Titus in those stirring days and scenes, we are 
left entirely in the dark; but it is safe to say he had 
some reason which appeared ample to himself. Is it 
possible to conjecture what his reasons were? I 
think it may be safely done. One conjecture is that 
as Titus's most eminent service at that time was in 
healing a frightful breach in one of the greatest of 
the churches, Luke ignored the entire story as the 



176 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

struggle was over some years before he wrote 
Acts, and hence he did not wish to recall painful 
memories by even so much as an allusion to them. 
Therefore he did not refer to Titus at all as this 
would hardly have been possible without telling 
something about his work in settling a quarrel now 
long a thing of the past. Another reason why he 
may not have mentioned Titus is, possibly, because 
the latter 's work did not seem to him to contribute 
as directly as that of some of Paul's other friends 
in hastening the onward sweep of Christianity from 
Jerusalem to Rome, the story of which, as we have 
seen, is the theme of the book of Acts. 

A few definite details are, however, known in 
regard to Titus the man. First of all we know that 
he was a Greek, Paul so stating in his letter to the 
Galatians. And farther we know that he was con- 
verted through the direct influence of Paul himself, 
for the latter addresses his letter to him as "his 
own son after the common faith." Perhaps it is 
fair to assume that Titus's conversion took place at 
Antioch, and that he was a part of the fruit of 
Paul's labors there. At any rate we first hear of 
him in association with Paul in that city when the 
latter, some fourteen years after his own conversion, 
went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas to consult the 
leading Apostles in regard to the question of cir- 
cumcision of Gentile converts. On this journey Paul 
took Titus with him. This visit to Jerusalem was 
after Paul's first missionary journey, and may or 
may not be identical with that one related in Acts 



TITUS 177 

15. It is conjectured by some that Titus was with 
Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journey 
together; and that it was from Titus that Luke 
gained most of his information about the move- 
ments of St. Paul during those periods when he 
himself was not with him. All this is very possible, 
but by no means capable of any proof. 

After Titus's journey to Jerusalem with Paul, 
Barnabas and others, we entirely lose sight of him 
for several years; but it is likely that he was with 
Paul all the time, or laboring somewhere under his 
supervision. We next find him for a certainty with 
Paul on the latter 's third missionary journey; and 
from a comparison of Acts with Paul's letters to 
Corinth, we know that he was with Paul at least 
part of the time during his ministry at Ephesus 
when all the province of Asia was evangelized by 
him and his friends. The evidence of this is that it 
was from Ephesus that Paul sent him on his most 
difficult missions. 

II 

The Proof of Titus's Efficiency 

The best proof of Titus's efficiency is a simple 
recital of the services he performed. 

While Paul was at Ephesus he received the dis- 
astrous reports of affairs at Corinth. Things were 
at a crisis and demanded immediate and tactful, yet 
at the same time the most masterful, handling, or 
all Paul's work there would be wrecked and the 
church and cause of Christ go down in irretrievable 



178 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

ruin. We need not here go into the details of the 
situation at Corinth. Its evils may be roughly 
summed up under a few general heads : the lax 
morals of the members of the church ; fierce factional 
broils ; confusion in public worship and drunkenness 
at the communion table; and the lending of greedy 
ears to the malicious enemies of Paul himself who 
denounced him, his message, and his Apostolic 
standing. 

How could such a situation be met? Paul begged 
Apollos to go to Corinth and try his hand in com- 
posing the difficulties. Apollos declined for reasons 
we have already examined. Paul was nearly des- 
perate. He feared to go himself lest his presence 
make matters worse. He then, for some reason, 
dispatched Timothy; but fearful of his ability to 
cope with the situation he wrote to the Corinthians 
pleading with them to give Timothy a favorable re- 
ception. Now either he failed in his mission, or else 
Paul, growing more and more distrustful of his 
ability to accomplish anything, recalled him before 
he even reached the scene of disturbance. Matters 
at Corinth were going from bad to worse every 
hour. There was but one thing left to do — send 
Titus. Neither Timothy, nor Apollos, nor even Paul 
himself, was the man for such a crisis as the troubles 
at Corinth had now reached. 

It is likely that Titus had already been there 
sometime previously, possibly he was the bearer of 
1st Corinthians ; and it may have been his report on 
the condition of things there that suggested to Paul 



TITUS 179 

that of all men he was the one to solve the problems 
now confronting him and rending the church to 
destruction. At any rate such was the course Paul 
took and he never judged a man more accurately 
nor confronted a situation more masterfully. 

Titus, therefore, was sent from Ephesus to Cor- 
inth. He went with verbal instructions and also 
bore a letter of scathing rebuke. That particular 
letter, now lost, is referred to in 2nd Cor. 7 : 8. With 
Titus went a "brother," but he was a negligible 
factor compared to Titus, not even his name being 
given in this connection though Paul declares him 
to have been well known. 

So great was Paul's anxiety over Titus's mission 
that he became too restless to remain at Ephesus, 
so hastened on to Troas hoping to intercept Titns 
there on his return journey. But some way they 
failed to meet. Paul's anxiety now became almost 
too heavy to be borne, and it proved impossible 
for him to restrain his impatience despite the splen- 
did opportunity to preach which now opened to 
him in Troas. 

His own words give a graphic picture of the ter- 
rible strain of those days. Here they are: — "Fur- 
thermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's 
Gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the 
Lord, I found no rest in my spirit, because I found 
not Titus my brother ; but taking my leave of them, 
I went from thence into Macedonia." Somewhere 
there, possibly at Philippi, Titus at last reached his 
side with the story of the complete success of his 



180 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

difficult mission. Paul was almost overwhelmed with 
the joyful release from his crushing load. We can- 
not do better than let him tell in his own words how 
he was affected by the glad tidings Titus brought. 
"I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in 
all our tribulation. For, when we were come into 
Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were 
troubled on every side; without were fightings, 
within were fears. Nevertheless God, that com- 
forteth those that are cast down, comforted us by 
the coming of Titus; and not by his coming only, 
but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted 
in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your 
mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I 
rejoiced the more . . . Therefore we were 
comforted in your comfort : yea, and exceedingly the 
more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his 
spirit was refreshed by you all . . . And his 
inward affection is more abundant toward you, 
whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, 
how with fear and trembling ye received him. I 
rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all 
things. ' ' 

Immediately after this Paul sat down and wrote 
2nd Corinthians and sent it back to the church by 
Titus who had already eagerly volunteered to return 
that he might farther the work of gathering an 
offering from them for the poor of Jerusalem. This 
work he had already begun on his previous visit, 
and Paul was now most solicitous for its success. 

The troubles at Corinth never reappeared in a 



TITUS 181 

dangerous form. Titus had settled them for all 
time. A task which Timothy was unequal to, a task 
which neither Paul nor Apollos deemed himself the 
right man to grapple with, Titus quickly accom- 
plished. Paul speaks of Titus's ''abundant inward 
affection" for the Corinthians. This must have 
been, in part, the secret of his success. But it was 
not all. He was evidently one born to command, a 
man of imposing personality, one whose presence 
overawed opposition and silenced faction. The 
Corinthians, as we learn from Paul's letters, ridi- 
culed his own person, made light of his deficiencies 
as a speaker, defied his authority, and scoffed at his 
messages. But Titus was unafraid. He met these 
insolent braggarts face to face, and they, not he, 
were cowed. And Paul comments, possibly with 
some degree of satisfaction, "how with fear and 
trembling they received Titus." 

The next recorded service of this skilled diplomat 
was rendered some years later, how many, it is im- 
possible to determine; nor have we any reference 
to his whereabouts during the intervening period; 
but it is safe to say that Paul did not permit to 
remain idle one who had such ability as he had 
manifested at Corinth. 

The second great service of Titus was performed 
in the island of Crete. There is no data by which 
it can be definitely settled when he labored there. 
Some believe it to have followed immediately after 
Paul's touching there with his shipmates when he 
was being conveyed a prisoner to Rome as recorded 



182 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

in Acts 27. In this case the letter to Titus may 
have been written from Rome. All this however 
seems to me exceedingly improbable in view of the 
fact that Paul told Titus he intended to winter at 
Nicopolis and requested him to join him there. 

The other view of the letter and the situation 
implied, is that Paul was released from a first im- 
prisonment in Rome and subsequently he and Titus 
went on a mission to Crete; and that the letter to 
Titus was written at Nicopolis, or as Paul was 
drawing near that city. I accept this view; but for 
our purposes it does not matter in the least when 
the mission took place, or whence the letter was 
written. Our interest is confined to the added in- 
formation given us concerning Titus and his effi- 
ciency, and this is the same in any case. 

There are four things in connection with the joint 
work of Paul and Titus in Crete and the letter which 
passed between them, which emphasize the latter 's 
efficiency as a man of practical achievements. The 
first is that, as far as we have any record, the 
last missionary work done by Paul when he was at 
liberty in his movements, was here in Crete; and 
that of all his score and more of close friends and 
able fellow workers, he chose Titus alone to share 
his arduous campaign in that island. 

In the second place, when the work was but fairly 
begun Paul withdrew and left Titus to cope single- 
handed with the desperate condition of the Cretan 
churches; and he did so without any misgivings as 
to the final issue under Titus 's masterful supervision. 



TITUS 183 

The situation of affairs in the island may be summed 
up in a few words : almost total lack of organization 
and church officers; rank insubordination of mem- 
bers ; shockingly low morals, and heretical teachings. 
With such a situation Paul directed Titus to grapple, 
having full faith that he was capable of proving 
himself master. 

The third evidence of Titus's efficiency is to be 
gathered from the general tone of Paul's letter to 
him. When, on a former occasion, Paul left Timothy 
to meet a somewhat analogous condition of affairs 
in the single city of Ephesus, his entire letter to 
him breathed a spirit of foreboding solicitude as 
though he were fearful that he would prove inade- 
quate to the demands of his position. On the other 
hand, in the case of Titus, though Paul left him to 
settle matters in an entire island, he manifested no 
fear as to his competency — a clear proof of his 
different estimates of the two men, however tender 
his affection for Timothy may have been. 

The fourth and last evidence we shall adduce 
concerning Paul's high estimate of Titus's efficiency, 
is the fact that he directed the latter to join him at 
Nicopolis as soon as he had so far settled matters 
in Crete that some other man — Artemas or Tychicus 
— would be able to carry them on successfully. 

That Titus fully met Paul's expectations here as 
at Corinth is proved by the fact that a little later 
we find he had left Crete and was on a final mission, 
again under Paul's direction, in far Dalmatia. This 
we learn from Paul 's last letter to Timothy. It may 



184 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

be that Titus was sent thither from Nicopolis where 
he joined Paul in accordance with the latter 's direc- 
tions after the work in Crete was so far completed 
as to permit its being carried on by others. If 
Nicopolis was not the place whence he was sent to 
Dalmatia, then it is likely he visited Paul in Rome 
and went from there. The province of Dalmatia 
was situated in the southern part of Illyricum. A 
reference to the latter is made in Paul's letter to 
the Romans, written from Corinth, where he declared 
' 'he had no more place in those parts, having fully 
preached the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem, and 
round about unto Illyricum." Hence it may well 
be that Titus was with him in that mission — of which 
we have no information save the above — and that 
in after days some crisis arose there, as at Corinth 
and in Crete, and so again Paul sent his strong 
man to meet it. 

Ill 

Paul's Love for Titus and Ardent Praise of the Man 

Of Paul's estimate of Titus's ability nothing 
farther need be said, his actions speak louder than 
any words could. Of his affection for him, his de- 
light in his companionship, and his admiration for 
the man, — a few words may be added. 

Perhaps Titus, next to Timothy, was closest to the 
great Apostle's heart. He calls him his "own son;" 
he tells us that at Troas he had no rest for his 
spirit, because he found not Titus "his brother;" 
in Macedonia he was "comforted by the coming of 



TITUS 185 

Titus;" and ' ' exceedingly more he joyed for the 
joy of Titus" because the latter 's spirit had been 
refreshed by the Corinthians; he thanked God that 
Titus "had earnest care in his heart" for them, and 
of "his own accord went unto them;" if any in- 
quired of Titus, he was his "partner and fellow 
helper." Of course part of all this anxiety and 
joy centered itself in the condition and welfare of 
the Corinthian Christians; but there is also a per- 
sonal tenderness in every reference to Titus's name 
which shows how dearly Paul loved him. 

IV 

What Paul and Titus Owed Each Other In Christian 

Service 

To Paul Titus owed his conversion to Christ; and 
to Paul's direction he committed all the powers of 
his redeemed soul and consecrated talent. From 
first to last we find him in Paul's company or 
executing Paul's commissions. 

But the debt between these friends was a recipro- 
cal one. For long years through Titus Paul was 
enabled to multiply his own presence, personality, 
and power; and after his death he had in Titus a 
man abundantly capable of prolonging his life mis- 
sion to the world. This ability had already been 
amply proved in far sundered fields and in most 
critical juncture of affairs, where he had been com- 
pelled to act independently of his leader's presence, 
either alone or with subordinate assistants. 



186 SAINT PAUL'S FEIENDSHIPS 

When Paul, the General-in-Chief of all Christen- 
dom, at last had to lay down the insignia of supreme 
authority, here was one of his Field Marshals who 
was capable of commanding any army on any field. 



CHAPTER X 

Aristarchus — Paul 's Friend Who Was But His Friend 



The story of Aristarchus 's career is contained in 
the following passages :— Acts 19 :29, 20 :4-5, 27 :l-2, 
Col. 4:10, Philemon 1:24. 



TO many readers of the New Testament 
Aristarchus is but a name and nothing 
more; to others he is not even a name= 
If we begin by describing him nega- 
tively, it will seem before we are through that there 
is nothing more left to say; in short, that he is an 
unimportant and insignificant figure. But such a 
judgment would be wide of the facts. However, let 
us hear the negatives first. 

I 

What Aristarchus Was Not and What He Did Not Do 

In all the New Testament there is no reference 
to any church founded by Aristarchus, nor to any 
mission undertaken, nor of any journey on which he 
was sent as messenger or agent. There is no record 
of any sermon preached, nor of any convert won. 
Once, and once only, is there so much as an allusion 
to the fact that he ever rendered any direct service 

187 



188 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

to Christianity; and in that exceptional instance, 
nothing is said as to what the service was. His life 
story is the story of a friend who was but a friend. 
About all we know of him is that from the beginning 
to the end of his career he was a friend of Paul's 
of whom it might be said "he stuck closer than a 
brother. ' ' 

In distinction from all Paul's other friends, Aris- 
tarchus appears to have been so completely absorbed 
in devotion to Paul's person and companionship as 
to have no time or place for service to the church 
at large. This is not said to his depreciation. Of 
such as he had, gave he unto the world; and that 
which was committed unto him, was a measureless 
devotion to the great Apostle, especially during the 
final terrible years and experiences through which 
he had to pass. 

Of the general ability of Aristarchus we have no 
direct means of judging; but the fact that no con- 
spicuous service was entrusted to him, leads to the 
conclusion that his talents were in no wise remark- 
able ; and yet his career exhibits some of the nobler 
virtues of character in what I may call, without 
exaggeration, their supreme degree. 

II 

Who Then Was Aristarchus and What Was His 
Relation to St. Paul? 

Aristarchus was a Macedonian by race, a native of 
the city of Thessalonica. He was probably con- 
verted by Paul during his first visit to that city. 



ARISTARCHUS 189 

At that time persecution against the Apostle was so 
bitter that he was speedily driven from the city. 
At Berea his party were received so much more 
hospitably that they contrasted their treatment at 
the two places greatly to the disparagement of the 
former. Had Paul been inclined to be discouraged 
over his expulsion from Thessalonica, or felt that 
his work there had been a complete failure, yet even 
if no splendid church had afterwards arisen as a 
result of his labors, the winning of such a convert 
as Aristarchus would alone have repaid him for all 
he suffered. 

Every mention of Aristarchus in the New Testa- 
ment presents him to us as the friend and personal 
attendant of St. Paul. When he forsook all and 
followed him, we do not know ; but in all likelihood 
it was directly after his conversion, which must 
have taken place on Paul's second missionary jour- 
ney. Our ground for believing he joined Paul at 
once is the fact that when he is first mentioned he 
is with him at the period of his three years' stay at 
Ephesus. Now this took place on Paul's third mis- 
sionary journey and before he had made his second 
trip through Macedonia and Greece; and Aristar- 
chus is in this connection already spoken of as 
" Paul's companion in travel." Therefore as Paul 
had been for some time settled down in his Ephesian 
pastorate, Aristarchus 's traveling with him must 
have preceded this. Hence we conclude he had 
already been some years with Paul and must have 
joined him at once after his conversion, or very 



190 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

shortly thereafter. Never is he mentioned apart 
from Paul to whose companionship he dedicated his 
life. 

Here at Ephesus Aristarchus manifested the su- 
preme devotion of a friend. Demetrius, the silver- 
smith, by persuasive and alarming eloquence, 
aroused a bloodthirsty mob which made a murderous 
assault upon Paul and his adherents. Paul himself 
escaped, but two of his friends were seized, — Gaius 
and Aristarchus. The inevitable conclusion is that 
they risked their own lives in defense of Paul, and 
were the most fearless and conspicuous of all his 
friends. Paul was no less loyal to them and was 
determined to risk all in order to go to their rescue, 
but other friends forcibly restrained him. 

Some time after this occurrence he revisited his 
European churches in Macedonia and Greece, and on 
his return to Asia Aristarchus is again mentioned 
among his companions in travel; so it is fair to 
assume he had been with him during the entire trip. 

Already Paul was on his last long journey to 
Jerusalem accompanied by the tearful forebodings 
and prophecies of his friends wherever he paused on 
the way. At last he reached Jerusalem where he 
was speedily arrested, and later sent down to 
Caesarea to languish in prison for two years or more. 
At length, after repeated judicial examinations, it 
was decided, in accordance with his own demand, 
that he should stand trial at the judgment bar of 
Caesar in Rome itself. 



ARISTARCHUS 191 

In that hour of peril there were those who mani- 
fested the supreme love of friends and were ready 
to lay down their lives for him and with him. Not 
one man only but two were eager to share his dan- 
ger whatever the form it might assume. The great 
heart of the Apostle had taken their hearts captive — 
let death come, in death they would not be divided. 

Those two fearless friends were "Luke the beloved 
physician," and Aristarchus "a Macedonian of 
Thessalonica. " Where the latter had been during 
the years of Paul's imprisonment at Jerusalem and 
Caesarea we do not know; but from the fact that he 
was with him on his journey to Jerusalem and at 
hand ready to accompany him to Rome, there can 
be little doubt but that he had always been at his 
leader's side. 

With Paul and Luke Aristarchus suffered ship- 
wreck and the perils of the deep. With Paul he 
entered the Eternal City, with Paul the prisoner he 
became a prisoner — not even the walls of a dungeon 
could shut him from the man whom he loved with a 
love surpassing fair. In writing to the Colossian 
church Paul says "Aristarchus my fellow prisoner 
saluteth you." Of all the young men who rallied 
to Paul's side during his languishing years at Rome, 
only two attained the eminence of being called his 
"fellow prisoners," and one of the two, as we have 
seen, was Aristarchus. That phrase can mean but 
one of two things, either these two men were so 
bold in their championship of Paul as to be them- 
selves imprisoned, or else they voluntarily remained 



192 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

at his side, and so were singled out by their loyalty 
even from such men as Mark, Luke, Timothy, and 
many others who at various times were with him in 
Home. In Paul's letter to Philemon, also written 
from Rome, Aristarchus is named along with Mark, 
Demas, and Luke, as his "fellow laborers" — the 
only reference ever made to any direct religious 
work done by him; and even this may mean noth- 
ing more than his personal attendance upon Paul. 

In Paul 's last letter to Timothy he states that only 
Luke was with him. What, then, had become of 
Aristarchus, who, with Luke, had journeyed to 
Rome with him and been faithfully by his side for 
so long? Had he failed Paul at the last? Scrip- 
ture is silent ; but we can not believe failure of such 
a man as he had for years shown himself to be. 
There is a tradition that he suffered martyrdom at 
Rome. It is easy to believe this. In fact, we are 
practically compelled to believe it; and also that it 
occurred before Paul's own death from the state- 
ment of the latter that at the end only Luke was 
with him. 

Ill 

The Significance of Aristarchus's Life 

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man 
lay down his life for his friends". "Be thou faith- 
ful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life. ' ' 
And so, as we have already declared, Aristarchus 
exhibited some of the nobler virtues of character in 



ARISTARCHUS 193 

their supreme degree — courage, fidelity, aud love, 
these three, and the greatest of these was love. 

He hath done what he could — neither heaven nor 
earth could ask more. He sought for no great 
place, he desired no trumpeted name, he wished 
only to lie at Paul's feet. With Paul he traveled 
over mountains and across seas, with Paul he faced 
bloodthirsty mobs and lay in a felon's cell. 

Two men at Ephesus defied Demetrius and his 
murderous allies — and Aristarchus was one of the 
twain: two men voluntarily crossed the seas with 
Paul — and Aristarchus was one of the twain: two 
men became Paul's "fellow prisoners" in Imperial 
Rome — and Aristarchus was one of the twain. 

And so with the names of Barnabas and Apollos 
the great orators, Mark and Luke the great authors, 
Timothy and Titus the great organizers, shall stand 
the name of one who was only Paul's " traveling 
companion," only his defender against mobs, only 
his fellow voyager and "fellow prisoner," — Aristar- 
chus the Macedonian of Thessalonica — "Paul's 
friend who was but his friend." 



CHAPTER XI 

Epaphras — Paul's Fellow Servant and Fellow 

Prisoner 



The story of Epaphras 's career is based on the 
following passages: — Col. 1:7-8, 4:12-13, and Phile- 
mon 1:24. 



EPAPHRAS is named in only two books of 
the New Testament, Colossians and 
Philemon; and in these two his name 
occurs but three times. All that is 
directly recorded about him is contained in ten 
verses, and yet these are enough to prove him a man 
of stalwart worth and large achievements, a man 
therefore whose acquaintance we could ill afford not 
to make. 

I 

Epaphras As Founder of Churches, Preacher and 

Pastor 

We learn from Paul's letter to the church at 
Colossae that the people of that city had never seen 
his face, and that the man from whom they had 
received the Gospel message was Epaphras. From 
Paul's testimony, in this same epistle, to Epaphras 's 

194 



EPAPHRAS 195 

zeal for "them that are in Laodicea, and them in 
Hierapolis" the inference is natural that he was 
also the founder of the churches in those two cities. 
These three towns were only a few miles apart, all 
being situated in Phrygia in the valley of the 
Lycus, a river emptying into the Meander. 

From Paul's letter we also learn the great and 
simple themes of the Gospel which were the burden 
of the message Epaphras delivered unto the Colos- 
sians — "faith in Jesus Christ, the truth of the gospel, 
and the grace of God." From the same source like- 
wise we are informed what a faithful pastor 
Epaphras was, the condition of his church bearing 
eloquent testimony to his labors. To Paul's ears had 
come reports of their faith, their "love to all the 
saints," and that they were bearing fruit from the 
day they first heard of the Gospel. All these facts 
are sufficient proof of Epaphras *s zeal and ability 
as a founder of churches, as pastor, and as preacher. 
Nor is this all that can be said in praise of his 
staunch worth and watchfulness in all three capaci- 
ties. When his parish began to be troubled and 
confused by philosophical speculations and by the 
zealots of the Jewish law, feeling himself unable to 
cope with the situation, he left Colossae temporarily 
and took the long and perilous journey to Rome to 
seek out Paul in his prison and consult with him 
as to how best his sorely perplexed but loyal-hearted 
flock could be rescued from the teachings that were 
threatening the simplicity of their faith in Christ. 



196 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

No journey, hardship, or danger, counted for a 
moment with this faithful pastor if only he could 
be of true assistance to his beloved people. He 
reported to Paul their love and Christian zeal, and 
besought his counsel in the crisis confronting him 
and them. 

And what testimony did Paul bear concerning this 
pastor who was now so far distant from his flock? 
He was in Rome, but he did not do as the Romans 
did, nor was he forgetful of those humble folk in 
far-off Colossae. He was not dazed by the magnifi- 
cence of the Imperial City, nor by its pomp or 
power and splendor. Paul wrote back to Colossae 
concerning their pastor that he was for them "a 
faithful minister of Christ/' that he was ''always 
laboring fervently for them in his prayers, that 
they might stand perfect and complete in all the 
will of God for," he adds, "I bear him record that 
he hath a great zeal for you." What a cheering 
message for the Colossian church during the absence 
of their pastor. What joy it must have brought to 
their hearts — Epaphras was not sightseeing in 
Rome, nor on pleasure bent. He was counseling 
about their welfare and praying for their prosperity 
in Christ. 

Of Epaphras 's early life and conversion we know 
nothing with absolute certainty. But it would 
appear that he was a native of Colossae, and may 
very well have been converted during a visit to 
Ephesus while Paul was laboring there. And it is 
probable, if the above is a correct assumption, that 



EPAPHRAS 197 

Epaphras at once gave such evidence of ability and 
consecration that Paul sent him back to labor in the 
Lycus valley; and that the churches there planted 
by him were founded under Paul's general super- 
vision, though he did not himself visit them. We 
are informed by Acts 19 : 10 that while Paul was 
preaching in Ephesus all Asia (the province of that 
name) " heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both 
Jews and Greeks.' ' Hence Ephesus was but the 
headquarters of a great missionary campaign con- 
ducted by Paul with the aid of his many lieutenants. 

II 

The Results of Pastor Epaphras' 's Interview With 
Paul in Behalf of His Distant Flock 

Epaphras must have been more than satisfied with 
the results of his visit to Paul, whatever the cost to 
himself in time, money, and hardship. Paul's inter- 
est in that far-off parish which he had never seen, 
was both immediate and practical. At once he be- 
gan to pray for them and continued doing so with- 
out ceasing from the very moment he heard from 
Epaphras 's lips the story of their fidelity and dan- 
ger. But Paul's helpfulness did not end with his 
prayers. He was in chains and so could not go to 
them ; but he could write a letter, or dictate one, and 
this he did. Out of the riches of his wisdom, love, 
and spirituality, he gave to that little flock a mes- 
sage which to this day the church universal treas- 
ures among its inspired writings. And to show that 
he did not feel nor desire the obligation to be all 



198 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

on one side, he interceded with that humble folk 
to pray for him and his fellow workers "that God 
would open for him a door of utterance, to speak 
the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds : 
that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. ' ' 

So intensely was Paul interested in the Colossian 
church that he appears to have made some great 
sacrifice in their behalf, for he writes that he "re- 
joices in his sufferings for them filling up that 
which was behind of the afflictions of Christ in his 
flesh for Christ's body's sake, which is the church.' * 
And he adds, "I would that ye might know what 
great conflict I have for you, and for them at 
Laodicae, and for as many as have not seen my 
face in the flesh. ' ' 

One other service Paul performed for this church 
as a direct result of their pastor's visit to him: he 
sent unto them Tychicus, one of his close companions, 
that he might farther know their "estate and com- 
fort their hearts." And so as a result of 
Epaphras's fidelity to his parish the Apostle devoted 
his best powers to their welfare and enriched all 
Christianity with another of his inspired letters. 
To Epaphras, then, as well as to Paul, do we owe 
a part of our Word of God. 

Ill 

Some Farther Evidence of Paul's High Estimate of 
Epaphras's Ability and Character 

Of all his many friends just two men only does 
Paul call his "fellow servants," and Epaphras is 



EPAPHRAS 199 

one of these. Thus he put him on a par with him- 
self in associated and loyal service to their common 
Lord. 

Just two men only among his many friends did 
Paul refer to as "bond servants of Jesus Christ," 
and Epaphras was one of these. Just two men only 
did Paul refer to as being his "fellow prisoners" in 
Rome, and one of these was Epaphras. 

"Fellow servant" and "fellow prisoner" with 
Paul, "bond servant of Jesus Christ," — what a triple 
crown of glory for the brow of Epaphras, faithful 
minister of Christ and of the church at Colossae. 

IV 

The Mutual Love of Paul and Epaphras 

Perhaps this has already been sufficiently brought 
out in what has preceded. Only a few words more 
shall be added. Paul speaks of Epaphras as "dear," 
or beloved, to himself. Of Epaphras 's love for 
Paul no farther evidence need be sought than the 
fact that in the latter 's letter to Philemon, an in- 
habitant of Colossae, he speaks of Epaphras as being 
at the time his "fellow prisoner." As in the case 
of Aristarchus this can mean but one of two things ; 
either that he became so conspicuous while at Rome 
in his love and zeal for Paul that he was imprisoned 
by the authorities along with Paul, or that he 
voluntarily shared that imprisonment to comfort 
Paul's heart by his presence and love. 



200 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

I am persuaded that he was actually imprisoned 
by the Roman authorities, and I base my conclusions 
on the following grounds: The doctrinal crisis at 
Colossae was such as to demand not only the im- 
mediate dispatching of a letter from Paul, but also 
the sending of a messenger who should supplement 
the letter with oral counsel and advice. The man 
it would have been most natural to send would cer- 
tainly have been Epaphras himself, who had just 
come to Rome for the special purpose of counseling 
with Paul. Assuredly no one knew the whole situa- 
tion as well as he, and from all the testimony Paul 
bears as to his character and ability, no man was 
better fitted to return to Colossae with Paul's letter 
and oral instructions. Why, then, did he send 
Tychicus on this mission instead of Epaphras, the 
pastor of the church? I can find but one adequate 
answer to this question — Epaphras was at the time 
suffering the penalty of his devotion to Paul, the 
Roman authorities had honored him by making him 
Paul's "fellow prisoner" in fact as well as in name. 

But in any case, Epaphras partakes with Aris- 
tarchus in the immortality of having shared the 
dungeon of the world's most illustrious prisoner. 

Paul, how surpassing marvelous the riches of 
thy friendships. In the chains of affection which 
bound men's hearts to thine own, they forgot the 
chains that bound their limbs in thy felon's cell. 
Roman generals who returned in triumph with vic- 
torious legions to be greeted by the thundering 
acclamations of the Imperial City's proud populace, 



EPAPHRAS 201 

knew a lesser glory and joy than they who walked 
with thee the Via Dolorosa. Bear witness Aris- 
tarchus, " Paul's friend who was but his friend ;" 
bear witness Epaphras, " Paul's fellow servant and 
bellow prisoner.' ' 



CHAPTER XII 

Epaphroditus — Paul's Friend Who Counted Not His 
Own Life Dear Unto Himself 



Our knowledge of the career of Epaphroditus is 
confined to the following passages: — Phil. 2:25-30, 
and 4:18. 



ALL our information concerning Epaphro- 
ditus is derived from Paul 's single letter 
to the Philippians, but that is sufficient 
to inscribe his name in the circle of the 
Apostle's closest companions and among the im- 
mortals of the early church. Apparently Epaphro- 
ditus was a native of Philippi, and presumably eon- 
verted during Paul's visit to that city on his arrival 
in Macedonia. 

I 

Epaphroditus as Messenger of the Philippian Church 

The first Christian service performed by Epaphro- 
ditus of which we have any record, was as the mes- 
senger of his home church to St. Paul ; but the whole 
account of the man and his activity which we do 
have, implies that he had long been eminent, at 
least locally, in every good work. At the time he 
was chosen messenger of the Philippian church the 

202 



EPAPHRODITUS 203 

situation was this : Paul was in Rome a prisoner and 
in dire "affliction. " Evidently that affliction was 
not merely a matter of prison hardship, but also one 
of sore distress for physical support and comforts. 
In some way his beloved friends in Philippi heard 
of his need and at once raised a fund for his relief. 

Epaphroditus was the man chosen to bear their 
offerings to Paul, and he gladly accepted the com- 
mission. No better tribute could be paid to him 
than this proof of confidence in his integrity on 
the part of those who knew him best, and his will- 
ingness to undertake a long and perilous journey to 
seek out a man in a Roman prison. It may also be 
assumed that the church believed no other man 
would be more comforting or helpful to St. Paul. 

That Epaphroditus faithfully performed the task 
entrusted to him we know, for still after nineteen 
hundred years we have Paul's receipt for the gifts 
which he brought. "But I have all, and abound: 
I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the 
things which were sent from you, an odour of a 
sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to 
God." But this was not Epaphroditus 's last ser- 
vice to St. Paul. Let us pass to the next. 

II 

Epaphroditus — The First Man Who Ever Had a 
Personal Representative in the Foreign Field 

Today one of the masterly and successful methods 
of pushing foreign missionary work, is for a church 
or a single individual to assume the entire sup- 



204 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

port of a missionary. Perhaps we are wont to 
think of this as a brilliant modern idea. If so, we 
are mistaken. The custom may have been in abey- 
ance for eighteen centuries, but, be that as it may, 
this modern method, whether known or not to those 
who recently projected it, is but the rediscovery of 
another of the "lost arts." The Philippian church 
originated this idea and their representative on 
the foreign field was no less a person than St. Paul 
himself. Listen to Paul's own statement about this 
matter. "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that 
now at the last your care of me hath flourished 
again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked 
opportunity. . . . Now ye Philippians know 
also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I 
departed from Macedonia, no church communicated 
with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye 
only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and 
again unto my necessity." 

As the Philippians were the first church to in- 
troduce this method, so a member of that church, 
Epaphroditus, was the first individual who ever had 
a personal representative in the foreign field; and 
this representative was also that same prince of 
missionaries St. Paul. Let us see how this came 
about. When Paul arrived a prisoner in Rome he 
must have had some private means, for we are in- 
formed that he dwelt two whole years in his own 
hired house. But evidently later on his funds were 
exhausted owing, probably, to the prolongation of 
his imprisonment and the expenses attendant upon 



EPAPHRODITUS 205 

his trials. His letter to the Philippians betrays the 
fact that he had been reduced to great privations, 
and the plain implication is that he had known 
what it was "to be hungry" and "to suffer need." 
At this juncture Epaphroditus arrived with the gifts 
of the Philippian church. But either these proved 
insufficient, or, abundant as they may have been, 
were soon exhausted. 

Some one must now make up that which was 
lacking. Evidently Paul was no longer able to sup- 
port himself by his trade ; and though he had many 
friends, all these were devoting their entire energies 
to the spread of the Gospel, and were probably about 
as penniless as he himself. Something had to be 
done. Either Paul must starve or one of his friends 
find some kind of remunerative employment and 
thus be able to supply his needs. The man to do 
this was already at hand, Epaphroditus, the mes- 
senger of the Philippian church: a man who had 
caught the spirit of his home church; nay, more, 
who in all likelihood was one of the chief inspirers 
of their generosity ; and who, perhaps, was not only 
the bearer of their gifts but also the collector of 
the same. 

When the offerings he brought were at length 
exhausted, he speedily found work in Rome where- 
by he was enabled for a time to provide for the 
wants both of himself and of St. Paul. There is 
evidence to support this statement. It is found in 
Paul's own words where in his letter to the 



206 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

Philippians lie refers to Epaphroditus as "he that 
ministered to my wants." And in another place 
says of him: — " Because for the work of Christ he 
was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to sup- 
ply your lack of service toward me." The plain 
meaning of this last statement is either that 
Epaphroditus was laboring zealously all the time 
as an evangelist and putting in extra hours of 
labor to support Paul until he was so worn out as 
to lie for a time at death's door; or else that his 
whole time and strength were given to earn that 
support. In either case it is clear he was per- 
sonally caring for Paul for a time ; but whether he 
was also doing evangelistic work or not, Paul ac- 
counted whatever he did as "the work of Christ." 
And so it may truthfully be said that Epaphroditus 
was the first man as far as we have any record who 
ever had a personal representative in the foreign 
field, for while he assumed the support of Paul the 
latter was preaching to all who came unto him, 
writing letters to distant churches, and directing 
his numerous Field Marshals and Lieutenants as 
they pushed forward their great campaigns against 
the strongholds of darkness. 

As far as we know Epaphroditus is the only one 
of Paul's friends who personally labored for his 
support while a prisoner in Rome; nay, more than 
that, he is the only individual of whom we have 
any record of having supported Paul at any time 
during his ministry. 



EPAPHRODITUS 207 

in 

The Lovable Nature of Epaphroditus 

We should not be doing full justice to the splendid 
qualities of Epaphroditus did we not devote a dis- 
tinct section of our sketch to a contemplation of 
his lovable nature. This is seen in the affection he 
both felt and inspired among all with whom he was 
associated. His fellow church members at Philippi 
sent him to Rome. There he fell sick "nigh unto 
death." They heard of his illness and were so anx- 
ious about him that as soon as he became convales- 
cent Paul felt under the necessity of immediately 
sending him back to his friends to allay their fears, 
although he states that "presently he hopes to send 
Timothy" unto them, and also that "he trusted in 
the Lord he himself should come to them shortly." 
But the solicitude of the Philippians over the wel- 
fare of their distant member was such that Paul 
did not feel justified in detaining him even though 
in the near future either he or Timothy, or both of 
them, might be able to accompany him home. That 
Epaphroditus fully reciprocated this affection of 
his home friends is borne out by Paul's statement 
of his feelings: — "For he longed after you all, and 
was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard 
that he had been sick." 

Of the affection existing between Paul and Epaph- 
roditus, part of the evidence is already before 
us, but not all. How he labored for Paul not count- 
ing his own life dear unto himself, we have already 



208 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

seen. But what of Paul's love for him? "We have 
equally strong testimony on this point. Mark the 
note of suppressed pain where Paul writes — "yet I 
supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, 
my brother." Parting from this man who had not 
"regarded his own life" in "supplying others' lack 
of service," was tearing from his heart a brother 
beloved. With what tenderness and pathos Paul 
refers to Epaphroditus 's recovery from the gates of 
death where he says : — "But God had mercy on him; 
and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should 
have sorrow upon sorrow." And how the inter- 
twining and mingling of the three streams of mu- 
tual affections — Paul's, Epaphroditus 's, and the 
Philippians' — is brought out in these words of 
Paul: — "I sent him therefore the more carefully, 
that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and 
that I may be the less sorrowful. " Note the separate 
phrases here — "sent him therefore the more care- 
fully," what tenderness as of a father for a sick 
son; "that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice;" 
how well Paul knew the joy Epaphroditus 's return 
in safety would bring to the Philippians; "and that 
I may be the less sorrowful," despite his own sor- 
row at parting from Epaphroditus he would be 
made less sorrowful when he knew his beloved 
Philippians were rejoicing in having their mes- 
senger back among them safe and sound once more. 
What an intertwining and intermingling of three 
streams of mutual affections in that single state- 
ment of Paul's, — nay, rather, in that flashlight 



EPAPHRODITUS 209 

revelation of his great loving heart. And then 
what yearning solicitude as he adds this superfluous 
plea as to how the Philippians should welcome their 
longed-for messenger — "Receive him therefore in 
the Lord with all gladness." Surely Paul never 
touched a deeper chord nor sounded a tenderer note 
than in all he had to say about this friend who 
hazarded his life in his behalf. 

IV 

Epaphroditus' s Service to the Church Universal 

His carrying of the gifts of the Philippian church 
to Paul was a service to the church universal. His 
own labors to support Paul was a service to the 
church universal. But there is still another service 
of incalculable value that Epaphroditus rendered to 
Christianity to all time, that is, he was the trusty 
bearer of that priceless document, that God-inspired 
message, Paul's epistle to the Philippians. It is 
quite probable also that he was Paul's amanuensis 
at the time of its writing, and that his hand first 
traced those words of flaming love and inspiration. 
It is also beyond controversy that his mission to 
Paul, his services, and his illness in Rome, prompted 
the writing of this letter which Paul gave into his 
keeping to deliver to their mutual friends at Philippi 
on his safe arrival home. 

Had it not been for thee, Epaphroditus, the 
church at Philippi would have been the poorer, 
Paul's afflictions more intense, and Christianity 



210 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

deprived of one of its noblest sons, and, probably, 
of one of the brightest gems of the inspired "Word. 

V 

Paul's Tribute to the Heroism of Epaphroditus 

But Epaphroditus was not merely a man of lovable 
nature, not merely a man utterly forgetful of self 
in his service of others, and not merely a useful link 
in the chain of events which enriched the world with 
a choicest letter, — but he was also a soldier and a 
hero. 

Of all the brave men who foregathered with Paul 
in Rome, upon Epaphroditus alone does he confer 
the distinction of being called a "fellow soldier." 
"My brother, and companion in labor, and fellow 
soldier/ ' — such is Paul's ringing crescendo of un- 
conscious eulogy. 

Whether Epaphroditus could found a church or 
not, we do not know. Whether he could preach a 
sermon or not, we do not know. Whether he ever 
led a man to Christ or not, we do not know. It is 
not necessary that we should know any of these 
things. What we do know is sufficient — he was 
Paul's brother and was sick nigh unto death in his 
behalf. And so with Paul's his name was linked in 
Rome and with Paul's is linked in Holy Scripture. 



CHAPTER XIII 



Onesimus — The Highest Example of the Transform- 
ing Power of Friendship With St. Paul 



The story of the career of Onesimus is based upon 
the following passages: — Col. 4:9, and Philemon 
1 :10-21. 



WE have already met the pastor of the 
Colossian church, Paul's friend 
Epaphras. In writing his epistle to 
that church Paul referred to him in 
these words — "who is one of you." In the same 
letter he spoke of another friend of his at Rome in 
exactly the same words — "Onesimus who is one of 
you' 7 — and called him "a faithful and beloved 
brother." 

Let us assume this is the first time we ever heard 
of this man and that all we know about him is con- 
fined to this single phrase of Paul 's — ' * a faithful and 
beloved brother." Let us see what inferences we 
might legitimately draw concerning the man and 
his character. 

211 



212 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 



Inferences Which May Be Drawn From Paul's 
Testimony Concerning Onesimus 

No man ever lived whom I had rather have call 
me a "faithful and beloved brother" than St. Paul. 
His commendation is a sufficient testimony for any 
man. Paul was a keen judge of human character. 
He had probed the depths of his own heart and mo- 
tives, and had had unlimited opportunities both by 
observation and experience for testing the charac- 
ters of other men in every walk and rank in life. 
Nor was he given to the use of nattering terms 
concerning any man high or low. So when he 
speaks of Onesimus as "faithful" he has paid him 
a splendid tribute. That word means much when 
used truthfully by any man, then how much richer 
its content and suggestiveness when used by Paul 
who so abhored cowardice and so admired bravery, 
and set such a high standard for himself and his 
friends. And Onesimus met that standard. 

But not only was Onesimus faithful as a Chris- 
tian, but to Paul he was "beloved" as a friend. 
He had qualities of heart that called forth the per- 
sonal affection of the Apostle. Now a man of very 
lowly walk in life might be faithful, and might also 
inspire the Apostle's affection. But Onesimus was 
something more than simply an object of Paul's love. 
Paul lifted him to the front rank in his friend- 
ship and called him "brother." "Faithful, beloved, 



ONESIMUS 213 

brother ' ' — character, affection, equality — surely 
Onesimus was a man whom any one might have been 
proud to know and call friend. 

It will be borne in mind that Paul was in Rome 
when he wrote these things of Onesimus, and that 
he did so in a letter to the Christian church at 
Colossae. Onesimus was an inhabitant of that city, 
but at the time of the writing of Paul's letter, 
chanced to be with him in Rome. Now with Paul's 
praise of him in mind let us go to Colossae ourselves 
and make inquiries concerning him and see what 
he is thought of in his home town. 

II 

Onesimus As Known In Colossae 

We are in Colossae and ask the first man we meet 
about Onesimus the friend and brother of the Apostle 
Paul ; but the stranger we address can give us no in- 
formation whatever. "We continue to pursue our 
inquiries for some time, but to our amazement no one 
seems ever to have heard of him. Finally we begin 
to doubt that the man about whom we are seeking 
information was ever in Colossae at all; either he 
has deceived Paul, or else the latter has himself made 
a mistake about Onesimus 's native city. We are 
on the point of giving up all farther search when 
some one suggests that possibly Philemon, a rich 
member of the church and an intimate friend of 
Paul, might be able to give us the information we 
desire. 



214 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

Encouraged by this, we hasten at once to the home 
of Philemon and repeat our inquiries about Paul's 
beloved brother Onesimus, a resident of Colossae. 
At first Philemon declares he has never heard the 
name of such a man ; but we insist that Paul has so 
spoken of him. Then at last a puzzled look comes 
into Philemon's face and to our astonishment he 
declares that the only Onesimus he knows anything 
about is one of his slaves, and more than that, he is 
a runaway and a defrauder into the bargain. We 
indignantly deny that any such man is the friend 
of whom Paul spoke; and Philemon also hastens to 
say it is impossible. Farther conversation, however, 
with a comparison of some details, proves beyond 
doubt that Onesimus whom Paul regards as a ''faith- 
ful and beloved brother" is one and the same man 
as Philemon's defrauding fugitive slave. We are 
chagrined and humiliated by these results of our 
inquiries; and Philemon is equally angered at the 
deception practiced upon Paul by his perfidious slave* 
and declares he will write immediately exposing 
Onesimus 's true condition together with his past evil 
record. 

Ill 

Who Then Was Right In His Estimate of Onesimus — 
Paul or Philemon? 

How shall we reconcile these conflicting opinions 
about Onesimus, or is it impossible to do so ? Surely 
Philemon must know him better than Paul, and his 
report must be strictly true, for he is a man of char- 



ONESIMUS 215 

acter and honor. Has Onesimus, then, completely 
deceived Paul? At first that seems the only solu- 
tion of the mystery and we are about to accept it 
when who should appear but Onesimus himself with 
a letter from Paul which he delivers into Philemon's 
hands. The latter hastily devours its contents. No, 
Onesimus has not deceived Paul in the least; for 
here in this letter stands revealed in Paul's own 
words all the worst facts that Philemon has just been 
telling us about him ; and the only possible way Paul 
could know them was by the confession of Onesimus 
himself. So whatever the solution of our perplexity, 
one thing is clear, Onesimus has not deceived Paul 
about his past. But if Paul knows all about that, 
as clearly he does, how then can he speak so highly 
of this slave in his letter to the Colossian church? 
There is but a single remaining hypothesis — some 
great and fundamental change must have taken place 
in Onesimus himself. 

Here then lies the secret of the conflicting views 
held at Rome and Colossae. We have discovered it 
at last, — Onesimus has been converted through Paul's 
influence, and is a changed man. "I beseech thee for 
my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my 
bonds," writes the Apostle to his friend Philemon. 

That Paul believed in the genuineness of Onesi- 
mus 's conversion is abundantly proved. It is proved 
by his testimony concerning him to the Colossian 
church. It is proved by the fact that Paul was 
earnestly desirous of retaining him at Rome "that 
he might minister unto himself in the bonds of the 



216 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

Gospel." It is proved by the fact that Paul trusted 
him to go back voluntarily to the master whom he 
had defrauded, and committed unto his keeping 
along with Tychicus two letters to deliver in 
Colossae, one to the church and the other to 
Philemon; and also entrusted to him with Tychicus 
an oral message to the Christians in his home city. 

Nor was Paul's faith in Onesimus betrayed in any 
particular. He went back to his master, he delivered 
the letters, he was a changed man. The defrauding 
fugitive slave had become by right of character the 
"faithful and beloved brother" of the greatest man 
of his generation. 

Onesimus is, therefore, the great, the supreme 
example of the transforming power of Paul 's friend- 
ship. That power lifted a criminal of the slave class 
to the level, to the hights, of the innermost circle 
of Paul's love and fellowship. 

IV 

The Mutual Love of Paul and Onesimus 

Onesimus 's love for Paul must have been a master 
passion, one that not only gave him joy as he lay 
at the Apostle's feet or ministered to his comfort, 
but one great enough to give him the strength to 
forego such happiness and at the bidding of his 
new-found friend and brother, turn back from the 
freedom of Rome and seek again his position as 
slave at Colossae. Farther than this obedience to 
the behests of love could not go. Onesimus loved 



ONESIMUS 217 

Paul enough to bid him adieu forever if that seemed 
the better way unto Paul himself.* 

And what answer did Paul make to a love so 
tragic in the sacrifices it unhesitatingly made? Did 
his heart go out to this slave with the intensity and 
fulness with which the slave's heart went out to 
him? Had Paul room for another friend, another 
friendship, one like unto the others which have been 
blessing the world these nineteen hundred years? 
Yes, that fount of love had not run dry, there was 
still an abundant stream whereat a slave might also 
quench the thirst of his desolate heart. At last the 
lonely bondman had a friend, one who did not gaze 
down upon him in pity from some inaccessible pin- 
nacle, but one who clasped him to his heart crying 
"my brother, my beloved brother." 

Listen to the Apostle's pleading words to Phile- 
mon, Onesimus's master, words still palpitating and 
athrill with a love which not only translated a slave 
into a freeman of Christ, but has also enriched the 
literature and life of all humanity: — "I beseech 
thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten 
in my bonds : Which in time past was to thee un- 
profitable, but now profitable to thee and to me: 
whom I have sent again : thou therefore receive him, 
that is, my very heart : whom I would have retained 



*Of the bearing of this incident on the general problem of 
slavery we shall make no comment. It has again and again 
been ably discussed from every viewpoint, and the nature of 
our purpose calls for no restatement here. 



218 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered 
unto me in the bonds of the gospel." Tenderer, 
more solicitous words were never written. 

Three young men Paul clasped to his heart, calling 
them his "sons" — Timothy, Titus and the slave 
Onesimus. For the latter he had a tenderness such 
as Jacob felt for Joseph and Benjamin, the children 
of his old age. Listen, and you can hear even yet the 
father heart-throb in the old warrior's tones as he 
cries out to the slaveholder Philemon — "being such 
a one as Paul the aged ... I beseech thee for 
my son Onesimus whom I have begotten in my 
bonds." And then he offered the best apology he 
could for Onesimus 's running away: — "For perhaps 
he therefore departed for a season, that thou 
shouldest receive him forever." And he followed 
this with still another plea for this child of his 
whose reception by his former master was such a 
burden on his heart. "Receive him" Paul entreats 
"not now as a servant, but above a servant, a 
brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more 
unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord." 

No plea could go farther, love itself could go no 
farther — "receive him as myself." And even after 
that Paul could not let the matter rest, he must say 
yet one word more, make a final intercession. Per- 
haps Philemon will feel that he has been defrauded 
of his slave's services during his absence; or pos- 
sibly he had stolen from him when he fled, as is 
quite generally suggested. So Paul added "If he 
hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put that on 



ONESIMUS 219 

mine account ; I Paul have written it with mine own 
hand, I will repay it." Did own father ever plead 
more earnestly for an only son? 

Paul, thou who didst wear the chains in thy 
dungeon and carry the burden of all the churches 
upon thy heart, yet hadst thou time to plead the 
oondman 's cause. What a friendship was this ! How 
rich, Onesimus, thy lot. How paltry Nero's heri- 
tage in comparison with thine own. 



CHAPTER XIV 

Philemon — A Slaveholder Whom Paul Dared Appeal 
to in the Name of Friendship 



Our entire knowledge of Philemon is confined to 
Paul's single brief letter to him. 



WE have just seen Paul's intense love 
for a slave, we now turn to consider 
his equally beautiful and tender 
affection for a slaveholder. In Paul's 
friendship as well as in his theology and gospel, 
there was neither bond nor free, a man was a man 
and a friend a friend regardless of social distinctions 
or financial status. 

Already we have made the acquaintance of two 
of his Colossian friends, Onesimus and Epaphras: 
let us now make the closer acquaintance of a third 
— Philemon. I say " closer acquaintance" for we 
already have a bowing acquaintance with him having 
been introduced when we studied the career of 
Onesimus. 

However let us ignore all that we have previously 
learned, not only about Philemon but also about 
Onesimus, in order that our study of Paul's friend- 

220 



PHILEMON 221 

ship with the former may be complete in itself. 
Onesimus, it will be recalled, is named and highly 
commended in Panl 's letter to the Colossian church ; 
but our knowledge of Philemon is confined exclu- 
sively to Paul's brief letter to him, and in this also 
we derive the larger part of our information con- 
cerning Onesimus. From this short letter alone we 
could easily draw a portrait of each of the three 
men whose interrelations are the subject of its con- 
tents: — Paul's, Onesimus 's, and Philemon's. 



We Make the Acquaintance of Philemon 

Philemon was, as has already been stated, a citizen 
of Colossae, a city situated in the province of 
Phrygia, Asia Minor. His worldly circumstances 
were more than comfortable, in short, he was a 
wealthy man, probably the only one in the entire 
circle of Paul's close friends. The evidence of his 
wealth is plentiful, but not obtrusive ; rather it is 
only indirectly and unintentionally revealed. He 
appears in Paul's letter as the owner of slaves; as 
one having a house of sufficient size as easily to 
serve as a place for church gatherings and worship, 
in fact, as the headquarters of the church itself. 
These facts which incidentally come out in Paul's 
letter all imply that he was a man of ample sub- 
stance. 

But Philemon's wealth was the thing of least 
significance about him. He had an ideal Christian 
home. Paul's letter is not only addressed to him 



222 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

but also to Apphia and Arehippus, who are supposed 
to have been his wife and son, the latter being a 
minister as we learn from the Colossian epistle, and 
the only man save Epaphroditus whom Paul ever 
referred to as a ' 'fellow soldier." Such was this 
united Christian household with a church in their 
own home. 

All these things however are but outward facts 
concerning Philemon: what of his real character, 
was he bearing the fruits of Christian discipleship ? 
Paul's words leave us no misgivings on this point, 
his testimony concerning this friend is unsurpassed. 

He thanks God for what he heard of Philemon's 
1 'love and faith toward the Lord Jesus." Two 
sources of information were open to Paul to learn 
these things and we may be sure he availed himself 
of both. He was visited in Rome by Philemon's 
slave and by his pastor, Onesimus and Epaphras. 
Their testimony must have concurred, and no 
stronger evidence could there be of the genuineness 
and beauty of a man's character. Their testimony 
was that Philemon was a man of faith and love 
toward Christ. But that was not all they had to 
say of him. They told of the attitude of this rich 
man toward his less fortunate Christian brethren 
His character could stand this crucial test. They 
spoke of his love "toward all saints," and how this 
love found practical expression in a door ever open 
in its boundless hospitality. Surely here was a 
Christian layman who might well serve as the 
world's model for all time. 



PHILEMON 223 

And yet he was a slaveholder, and Paul was 
writing him a letter of intense earnestness and 
solicitude wherein his anxieties for Onesimus and 
his confidence in his correspondent seemed to be 
struggling for the mastery in every line, and throb 
in every syllable. Was there then some lurking 
defect in Philemon's character, some fatal blemish 
in his Christian profession? No, not that, it was 
Paul's yearning paternal love for his newly " be- 
gotten son" Onesimus, and his earnest desire that 
Philemon should voluntarily rise to the loftiest 
hights of Christian altruism which made Paul's 
letter palpitate with such seemingly antagonistic 
emotions of fear and certitude. 

II 

Paul's Direct Appeal to Philemon 

What, then, was the occasion of Paul's writing 
to Philemon, and what request had he to make about 
which he was in such dead earnest? 

Before answering these questions, let us have the 
entire situation clearly before us. Paul, as we have 
seen, was a prisoner in Rome at the time he wrote 
this letter. Onesimus, Philemon's slave, had escaped 
from Colossae, and either by chance or because of 
previous acquaintance with Paul or knowledge of 
his whereabouts, joined him in Rome and speedily 
became his almost indispensable attendant, minister- 
ing unto Paul's needs in his bonds. Onesimus was 
soon converted and then, much as Paul needed his 
ministrations, he yet felt it his bounden duty not 



224 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

to retain him without his master's free consent, 
however much that master was under obligations to 
himself. So Paul persuaded Onesimus that it was 
his duty as a Christian to return to his former 
master. Probably this was done lest there follow 
wherever the Gospel was preached and the liberation 
of Onesimus become known, an insurrection of con- 
verted and pseudo-converted slaves, which consti- 
tuted about fifty per cent of the population of the 
Roman Empire. So Onesimus consented to do as 
Paul advised and returned to Colossae. 

Now in running away Onesimus had defrauded 
his master of his services during his absence, and, 
farther, it would appear likely that he had either 
stolen from him or wronged him in some other way 
also. All this would make him liable to severe pun- 
ishment on his return. Whether he himself had any 
fears on that score, we do not know. Neither can 
we say how far Paul feared such a result; but, at 
any rate, he had considerable anxiety as to just 
what Onesimus 's reception would be, and so deter- 
mined to do all in his power to influence Philemon 
not only to forego all punishment, but even to re- 
ceive back his offending servant as cordially and 
kindly as he would himself. 

This, then, was the purpose of Paul's letter, this 
his direct appeal to Philemon. An inspired book of 
our Holy Scriptures is, therefore, the very flowering 
of the heart of the world's matchless friend — the 
intercession of Christ's greatest Apostle and Chris- 
tianity's greatest missionary, in behalf of a poor 



PHILEMON 225 

runaway slave; and all this, not that the slaved 
life might be spared, but that he might be received 
by his wealthy Christian master in all kindness as a 
friend and brother in Jesus Christ. 

And while Paul did not present his appeal in any 
formal, logical argument, as would have been ap- 
propriate in a court of law and entirely inappro- 
priate in a letter of private friendship, yet was 
there ever such a masterly and unobtrusive blending 
of the most cogent arguments with the tenderest of 
appeals, — a blending of arguments so subtle and so 
inseparably interwoven with the very texture of the 
appeal as almost to defy analysis and classification. 
However, were we to attempt to separate and ana- 
lyze the argument, we would find that, brief as this 
letter is and packed as it is with other facts, impli- 
cations, and emotions, Paul based his appeal for 
Philemon's clemency toward Onesimus on six differ- 
ent grounds, which, taken together, are overwhelm- 
ing in their cogency, and surpassingly delicate and 
tactful in their wording. 

In the name of their own friendship and mutual 
love Paul appealed to Philemon directly on the 
grounds of sympathy: he who might be "bold to 
enjoin . . . rather beseeches for love's sake 
being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also the 
prisoner of Jesus Christ." He appealed to Phile- 
mon on the grounds of a personal obligation the 
latter owed him and which he might have claimed at 
the hands of his servant, but which he had volun- 
tarily foregone out of courtesy, for he would receive 



226 SAINT PAUL'S FBIENDSHIPS 

no payment not willingly made. Paul appealed to 
him on the grounds of the joy he could give him in 
his dungeon — ''Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee 
in the Lord. ... If thou count me therefore a 
partner, receive him as myself." He appealed to 
him in the name of his own love for Onesimus — "I 
beseech thee for my son Onesimus. ' ' Paul appealed 
to him on financial grounds, the slave was once 
valueless to him but he, Paul, had made him valu- 
able and honest, therefore Philemon ought to receive 
him kindly and be glad that he ran away: "Which 
in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now 
profitable to thee and to me." And farther, on this 
score, Paul would have made good out of his own 
pocket any loss his correspondent might have suf- 
fered through his slave's flight. And, lastly, Paul 
dared to appeal to this Christian slaveholder in the 
name of Christian brotherhood, and on the basis of 
the equality of master and slave, both alike being 
freemen in the Gospel of Christ. Listen to Paul's 
own words: "For perhaps he therefore departed 
for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for- 
ever; not now as a servant, but above a servant, a 
brother beloved, specially to me, but how much 
more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord?" 
Surely no man of heart and conscience could 
resist such an appeal as this — an appeal that was all 
argument, argument that was all appeal. Had this 
been the letter of a total stranger, Philemon could 
not but have granted its request; how much more 



PHILEMON 227 

then, seeing that it came from the pen and the heart 
of his friend, one to whom he was personally under 
very high obligations. 

Ill 

Paul's Indirect Appeal to Philemon 

While Paul's direct appeal to Philemon concerned 
itself merely with the kind of reception he should 
accord his runaway slave, yet no one can study his 
letter without perceiving that it contains also an 
indirect appeal. And though indirect yet powerful, 
more powerful even than if directly preferred — a 
plea for Onesimus 's emancipation. 

The grounds for believing there is such an indirect 
appeal in this letter are threefold. First, this state- 
ment — " Having confidence in thy obedience I wrote 
unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than 
I say." What had Paul said? He had asked that 
Onesimus be kindly received. Now if Philemon was 
to do even more than that, what could Paul have 
had in mind except Onesimus's complete freedom? 
Second, this statement — ' ' If thou count me therefore 
a partner, receive him as myself. ' ' Now how would 
Philemon have received Paul? Not merely kindly, 
but as a free man. Would the kindly reception of 
Onesimus as a slave be the same reception as he 
would give Paul, a free man? I think not. Paul 
must have had something more than that in mind. 
Third, this statement — "For perhaps he therefore 
departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive 
him forever ; not now as a servant, but above a ser- 



228 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

vant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how 
much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the 
Lord?" Now if Philemon received Onesimus "not 
as a servant, but above a servant, as a brother 
beloved . . • . both in the flesh, and in the 
Lord," would it be possible to keep him any longer 
in bondage? 

Scripture is silent as to the response Philemon 
made to Paul's indirect plea, but tradition affirms 
that he freed Onesimus and that the one-time slave, 
begotten in Christ Jesus in Paul's bonds, became 
eminent in Christian service. 

IV 

Paul and Philemon — Their Mutual Love and Some 
Aspects of Their Friendship 

If we should first consider the religious ties bind- 
ing these two friends together, we would not after- 
wards be surprised at Paul's courage in addressing 
the wealthy and powerful Philemon as he did. It 
is practically certain that the latter was a convert of 
Paul's. We gather this from Paul's words where 
he writes — "albeit I do not say to thee how thou 
owest unto me even thine own self besides." In 
another place he refers to himself as being counted 
a "partner" by Philemon; and in his salutations, 
he calls his correspondent his "fellow laborer." It 
is possible that he would have so spoken of him as 
a zealous Christian, even had they never worked 
together in the same place, but this is scarcely prob- 



PHILEMON 229 

able. It is more likely that at some time they had 
actually labored together in evangelistic work. 

Now Paul, as we have seen, did not found the 
Colossian church, and we have no record of his ever 
having visited it, and yet Philemon was one of his 
converts. It is quite generally believed that during 
Paul's long ministry at Ephesus, Philemon, residing 
in a not distant town, heard of the great events 
taking place in the neighboring city so made a 
journey thither and while there was led to Christ by 
the great Apostle, and thereafter remained for a 
season as his "fellow laborer." The same was ap- 
parently the case with Epaphras ; and it is probable 
that these two Colossians proved themselves so 
efficient that Paul soon sent them back to found a 
church in their own city, Philemon opening his 
spacious home for this purpose while Epaphras be- 
came pastor of the little flock which was speedily 
gathered together. It was not long before Philemon 
gave his own son Archippus to the ministry. 

The religious ties binding together the Apostle 
and his wealthy convert never slackened despite 
the lapse of time and the great distance which 
separated them. Paul was ever zealous for his 
friend's religious growth and prosperity as is seen 
in his both beginning and ending his letter with a 
benediction in the name of their common Lord and 
Master. Paul also expressed his great joy over the 
splendid reports he has heard of his friend's conse- 
cration to Christ and generosity to his poorer fellow 
Christians, and wished for him prosperity in every 



230 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

good thing " which was in him in Jesus Christ." 
He also declared that he made mention of Philemon 
in all his prayers, and had great faith in his friend's 
prayers in his own behalf; and that through them 
"he should be given to him." 

The ties of mutual love which welded the hearts 
of these two men as one, were no less beautiful and 
tender than the religious ones which bound them 
together in holiest associations and memories. Paul 
called Philemon his "brother" and his "dearly be- 
loved;" and while, as his former pastor and spiritual 
father, he "might be bold in Christ to enjoin what 
was convenient, yet for love's sake" he merely 
makes request for what he desired. Again he de- 
clared what great "joy and consolation" he had in 
Philemon's love; and toward the close of the letter 
did not hesitate to ask his friend to prepare a 
"lodging" for him against his release, knowing this 
would be esteemed as great a privilege and joy for 
Philemon as it would for himself to accept the hos- 
pitality. It would appear from this request that of 
all Paul's friends, this was the one he was planning 
to visit first in the event of his release at Rome. 

Everywhere in his letter, whether speaking of 
himself or interceding for Onesimus, Paul reveals 
the most delicate feeling on his own part, and the 
most courteous deference for the position and feel- 
ings of Philemon. He unhesitatingly laid aside his 
own desire to retain Onesimus with him in Rome 
where his services had become so needful to his 
personal comfort. "But," he wrote, "without thy 



PHILEMON 231 

mind would I do nothing, that thy benefit should 
not be as it were of necessity, but willingly." 

Now a private letter of the best kind not only 
reveals to us the character and heart of the writer 
as this does St. Paul's, but it also unconsciously 
reveals the personality of the correspondent, or, at 
any rate, the writer's conception of his friend's 
character and love for himself. So it is in this letter. 
Every word Paul wrote about his own love assumed 
and presupposed an equally ardent affection on 
Philemon's part. Every request he made, presup- 
posed Philemon's happiness in granting it. Every 
unspoken wish showed confidence that Philemon 
would hasten to meet his utmost expectations. 

What a friendship, then, was this, each friend 
finding such happiness in the other's love, such joy 
in self denial for the other's sake, such eagerness to 
anticipate the other's wishes. What a versatile, 
what a master friend was Paul — one in heart and 
feelings with a poor fugitive slave, one in heart and 
feelings with a wealthy slaveholder. And not only 
that, but one who, in the name of this double friend- 
ship and the faith of all three men in a common 
Lord, dare raise the hammer of loving counsel and 
entreaty to shatter the bondman's chains and with 
the same stroke weld in the bonds of brotherhood 
and affection the hearts of master and slave. And 
thus a triple friendship arose which was yet one — 
the friendship of Paul and Philemon, of Paul and 
Onesimus, and of Onesimus and Philemon; and all 



232 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

three friends one in Jesus Christ, freemen alike in 
him, and yet all servants and fellow laborers in the 
bonds of the all-emancipating Gospel. 

V 

Notable Features of Paul's Letter to Philemon 

Perhaps most of the notable features of Paul's 
letter to Philemon have already been touched upon, 
but so remarkable are some of them that their re- 
capitulation or summary deserves a brief section 
by itself. 

Of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, 
eight are addressed to individuals, — Luke, Acts, 1st 
and 2nd Timothy, Titus, 2nd and 3rd John, and 
this letter of Paul to Philemon. Of these eight, Luke 
and Acts are manifestly public documents and so 
intended to be; the two letters to Timothy and the 
one to Titus, while in the form of private commu- 
nications, are yet mainly occupied with official in- 
structions; 2nd John is addressed to an ''elect lady 
and her children," by which was probably meant 
some church or group of Christians. This leaves in 
all Scripture but Philemon and 3rd John as personal 
letters in the strictest sense of the term; so Phile- 
mon shares with Gaius the unique distinction and 
honor of having an entirely private letter written 
them by a friend, become a part of the world's treas- 
ured literature and inspired Scripture. 

Look at this letter to Philemon how we may, it is 
a remarkable piece of writing. It tells us all we 
know about Philemon himself, and most that we 



PHILEMON 233 

know about Onesimus. Now suppose it fell into the 
hands of some one who had never heard of St. Paul, 
how easy it would then be for him not only to get a 
graphic conception of the personality and condition 
of both Onesimus and his master, but also to recon- 
struct the essential points of Paul's own character. 

Let us see what would be the picture of Paul and 
his outward circumstances that, just from this let- 
ter only, such a man would form. He would see him 
as an old man somewhere lodged in prison and in 
actual bonds because of his unswerving loyalty to 
Jesus Christ. He would see by his side Epaphras, a 
man equally devoted to Christ and undergoing like 
bonds. He would see Paul still laboring for his 
Lord despite his chains; and grouped about him as 
fellow laborers and personal friends, Mark, Luke, 
Aristarchus, and Demas. He would see a man who 
passionately loved his friends and craved a like 
affection on their part; a man who knew no social 
distinctions either in his love or religion; a man of 
fearless courage in writing to a slaveholder of his 
duty to the lowly, but of utmost courtesy, in making 
known his wishes ; a man who could forget his own 
galling bonds in his solicitude for the welfare of a 
slave ; a man who could forget his own need of min- 
istrations that he might not trespass on the rights 
of another, even though that other was under deep 
obligations to himself; a man of masterly power of 
argument, yet of utmost delicacy and tact in veiling 
it under the guise and in the language of beseeching 
love ; in fact, a man who shows he had every instinct 



234 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

of the truest gentleman and highest breeding ; a man 
who never forgot to pray for his friends by name, 
imploring for them the noblest graces of the Chris- 
tian life; a man who believed in the efficacy of the 
prayers of his friends and rejoiced in the hope of 
again seeing them face to face; and, withal, a man 
who knew that no true friend will ever avail him- 
self of all of his rights, and, on the other hand, that 
every true friend will rejoice to grant the other's 
wishes, that friendship imposes obligations a true 
friend will gladly meet without being pressed. 

And how easy it is also to obtain a graphic con- 
ception of Onesimus. Unconverted, longing for free- 
dom, he deserts and defrauds his master and flees 
from Colossae to Rome and there joins Paul. In all 
truthfulness, however, he reports the noble Christian 
character of the man he has deserted. He attaches 
himself to the aged prisoner, St. Paul, and makes 
himself well nigh indispensable as a personal attend- 
ant. He is converted and Paul clasps him to his 
heart as a son begotten in his old age. He confesses 
he is runaway slave who has wronged his master. 
Paul's heart is broken at the thought of separation, 
but urges it as a Christian duty for him to return 
to his master. He is a free man in Christ Jesus, self- 
sacrifice has become his new law, so he makes the 
supreme oblation and goes back to his life of bond- 
age. 

The picture of the character, position, and person- 
ality of Philemon is equally striking and complete; 



PHILEMON 235 

but perhaps that has been already sufficiently 
sketched so that we need not redraw it. 

When I contemplate all these things, and consider 
also how much I have written about this friendship 
of Paul and Philemon, and then turn to the letter 
itself and see how brief it is — only twenty-five 
verses, less than a single page in an ordinary-sized 
Bible — I am simply astounded that even the Apostle 
Paul could pack so much in so small space. And 
though I have written so much about what he wrote 
so little, yet not all its depths have been plumbed, 
not all its hights scaled, nor its beauty limned, nor 
its riches garnered. Nor can these things ever be 
done for this letter is more than a letter, it is a 
section of the very heart of him whose heart blended 
two master passions, — love for Jesus Christ, and love 
for his friends. 



CHAPTER XV 

Tychicus — Minister of Christ and Messenger of St. 

Paul 



Our knowledge of the career of Tychicus is based 
upon the following passages: — Acts 20:4, Eph. 
6:21-22, Col. 4:7-9, 2nd Tim. 4:12, and Titus 3 :12. 



THIS friend of St. Paul's is named in five 
books of the New Testament: Acts, 
Ephesians, Colossians, 2nd Timothy, and 
Titus. In every instance he is either 
journeying with Paul or on a journey or about to 
commence one as his messenger. 

I 

Who Tychicus Was 

He was a native of Asia Minor and probably a 
citizen of Ephesus. We infer the latter fact as he 
is first mentioned along with Trophimus as an in- 
habitant of Asia; and later we are told that Tro- 
phimus was an Ephesian, hence it is fair to conclude 
that Tychicus was also, and that the two men were 
converted by the preaching of Paul during his 

236 



TYCHICUS 237 

three years' pastorate in their home city. In Paul's 
letters to the Ephesians and Colossians he speaks of 
Tychicus as a "faithful minister in the Lord," so it 
is evident that soon after his conversion he began to 
devote all his time to evangelistic work. When we 
are first introduced to him we find him as one of the 
seven friends of Paul who are accompanying him 
back to Asia after his second mission to Europe, as 
he was turning his face once more, and for the last 
time, toward Jerusalem. 

This presupposes that Tychicus had left Ephesus 
with Paul, or joined him a little later, and labored 
with him in his second tour of Macedonia and 
Greece. Quite a large party of friends accompanied 
Paul all the way on that long, foreboding, final trip 
to Jerusalem. Trophimus was of their number, but 
whether Tychicus went all the way or not we are 
unable to say. 

II 

Tychicus as a Trusted Messenger 

Tychicus appears three times in the letters of Paul 
as his trusted messenger ; and this is his one eminent 
service to Christ and Christianity of which we have 
any record. His personal relation to Paul was one 
of love and unswerving devotion and loyalty; his 
outward relation, that of traveling over seas and 
continents ever carrying the Apostle's dispatches 
to distant parts of the kingdom of Christ over which 
the Apostle was, so to speak, a kind of vice-gerent. 



238 SAINT PAUL'S FEIENDSHIPS 



The First Mission of Tychicus 

Tychicus did not accompany Paul to Rome — only 
Luke and Aristarchus having done so far as we 
know — but he did join him there sometime after his 
arrival. The fidelity of those of Paul's friends who 
underwent the fatigue and expense of the long 
journey from the East to Rome, and the courage 
which inspired them to do this and attach themselves 
inseparably to the cause and person of an Imperial 
prisoner, has never been sufficiently recognized. 
And Tychicus was among the number of that small, 
heroic, immortal band. 

The circumstances leading to his first mission for 
Paul were as follows: Epaphras, the pastor of the 
Colossian church, came to Rome to consult the 
Apostle about the disturbing doctrines which were 
troubling his flock. A runaway slave from Colossae, 
Onesimus, had also recently joined the Apostle and 
had been converted by him. Paul determined at 
once to write a letter to the Colossian church, and 
also to return Onesimus to his master. Tychicus 
appears to have been the Apostle's amanuensis in 
this instance. As this letter had to be sent by some 
trusted messenger, it seemed to Paul a good oppor- 
tunity to dispatch hj the same hand a kind of circu- 
lar letter to the churches in the province of Asia, 
and particularly to the city of Ephesus where he had 
preached so long while effecting the conquest of 
"all Asia" through the agency of his lieutenants, 



TYCHICUS 239 

such as Epaphras, Timothy, and others. So he also 
dictated to Tychicus the letter now known as his 
Epistle to the Ephesians. The letters written, the 
next question was, who should carry them to their 
destination. 

This was a point of no little moment. The journey 
was long and attended with some hazard. But 
aside from that, there was needed a man who could 
not only carry a written message safely, but also 
one who could convey with tact and accuracy oral 
greetings, instructions, and counsels; and one, com- 
petent also to deal with the disturbances at Colossae, 
and likewise to comfort the hearts of all believers. 

Who then should Paul send on this mission of 
such importance? This might first be answered by 
a counter-question — Did Paul have much oppor- 
tunity for choice in a messenger? who were with 
him at the time? This question can be readily 
answered, at least with sufficient fulness. As we 
learn from his letter to the Colossians and the greet- 
ings in his letter to Philemon, there were with him 
at the time in Rome, Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, 
Demas, Luke, Timothy, Tychicus, and Onesimus. 
The latter he was about to return to his master, so it 
was necessary to send along some one else to visit 
the churches and bring back to Rome a report of 
their condition. Whom should he send? Surely 
there was here a wide opportunity for selection. 
His decision fell on Tychicus. While this was in no 
sense a depreciation of the merits of the others, all 
of whom were useful to him in Rome, yet it was the 



240 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

highest kind of testimony to his confidence in the 
trustworthiness of Tychicus. So he was dispatched 
to Ephesus with Paul's letter for that church and 
the other churches in the vicinity, which letter con- 
tains these words about the bearer himself: "But 
that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, 
Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in 
the Lord, shall make known to you all things : whom 
I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye 
might know our affairs, and that he might comfort 
your hearts. ' ' 

Accompanied by Onesimus, Tychicus went on to 
Colossae and delivered to that church an epistle in 
which Paul again spoke of him in almost exactly 
the same terms as in the letter to the Ephesians: 
"All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who 
is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and 
fellow servant in the Lord: whom I have sent unto 
you for the same purpose, that he might know your 
estate, and comfort your hearts; with Onesimus, a 
faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. 
They shall make known unto you all things which 
are done here." 

2 

The Second Mission of Tychicus 

Of this we know next to nothing. In fact, we do 
not even know for a certainty that he was actually 
sent ; but we do know Paul was contemplating send- 
ing him or Artemas to Crete as soon as Titus had 
somewhat composed matters there, so that he could 



TYCHICUS 241 

be spared to join the Apostle as Nicopolis. This 
was, as we have elsewhere assumed, during Paul's 
brief period of release between his first and second 
imprisonments at Rome. 

Though we lose sight of Tychicus at Colossae 
where some time previously he faithfully delivered 
Paul's letter, it is evident that he had fulfilled that 
mission to the Apostle's satisfaction; that he is 
again, or rather still, under the Apostle's direction 
as to his labors and movements, and now stands 
ready to go to Crete, if that shall appear best to 
his leader, as soon as Titus deems it safe and advis- 
able to take his departure therefrom. 

3 

The Third Mission of Tychicus 

Whether or not Tychicus ever undertook the con- 
templated mission to Crete, there is no question 
whatever about his last recorded service as the 
trusted messenger of the Apostle. 

Paul had again been arrested and thrown into 
chains in a Roman dungeon. The tragic end was 
now a certainty. But the faithful Tychicus was 
again at his side, loyal, unafraid, ready to do his 
bidding. Demas had forsaken him ; Crescens he had 
sent to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Timothy 
was in Ephesus, and Mark somewhere in the East, 
probably in Asia Minor. The aged, doomed Apostle 
yearns for the solace of the presence and love of 
Mark and Timothy. It did not seem possible that 
Timothy could be spared from his important and 



242 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

critical work at Ephesus. Yet Paul's heart would 
break unless he could clasp to his breast once more 
his beloved son Timothy. By his side at this time 
were only Luke the beloved physician, and Tychicus 
the trusted messenger. Luke he could not spare, — 
but Tychicus? He also was a "beloved brother," 
but he was not Timothy, he was not Paul's "own 
son," — and only a son's face could cheer a dying 
father. 

"Tychicus," it is the trembling voice of the aged 
Paul that speaks, "wilt thou make one final sacri- 
fice for me, wilt thou go to Ephesus and let my boy, 
my son Timothy, come here to cheer my dying 
hours ? ' ' 

Tychicus is silent. He had hoped and believed 
that that supreme privilege and sacred joy was to be 
his own. He averts his face. His frame is shaken 
by his choking emotions, his struggle between love 
and sacrifice. 

"Art silent, Tychicus, the sacrifice — is it asking 
too much even of thee?" 

"Nay, nay, my beloved master, I will go for thee. 
Thou shalt clasp thy boy to thy heart once more." 
And Tychicus was gone, gone on his last mission for 
his dying friend, gone out from his presence to see 
his face no more on earth. He did what he could. 

For a time both Luke and Paul are silent. They 
gaze at Tychicus 's empty chair. "Aye, here was a 
man and a hero" is at length Luke's simple com- 
ment. "Yea," answers an aged man with whitened 
head, "and I shall see his face no more." Then he 



TYCHICUS 243 

seizes his pen and writes in rapturous anxiety to 
Timothy his faraway child — "Tychicus have I sent 
to Ephesus . . . For I am now ready to be 
offered, and the time of my departure is at hand 
. . . Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me 
. . . Take Mark, and bring him with thee . . . 
Do thy diligence to come before winter. ,, 

III 

Tychicus the Man, and the Value to Christianity of 
His Friendship with St. Paul 

Though Tychicus was a minister of Christ there 
stands to his credit no record of a church founded, 
or sermon preached, or convert won. But if we 
have no great original message from his heart and 
lips, yet we do have two immortal writings which his 
pen traced at the dictation of another, which he bore 
safely to their destination over hundreds of leagues 
of sea and land, and through them, being dead, he 
yet speaketh. Not a great man perhaps, but he also 
did what he could ; he was faithful to every respon- 
sibility entrusted to him, and he was a comfort to 
the believers of his day. 

Unobtrusive, unassuming, totally void of all self- 
seeking and self glorifying, willing to decrease if 
only his friend Paul and the cause for which they 
mutually stood might increase, he did his work as 
it came to him and served his generation and all 
Christianity with such powers as he had. He was 
a man who had rather be a doorkeeper in the house 
of his God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness, 



244 SAINT PAUL'S FEIENDSHIPS 

who rather be a courier of St. Paul than Prime Min- 
ister of Nero. His name will forever be written 
among those who were faithful in little things, and 
some day shall be ruler over many things. If he 
could not fight in the forefront of the battle like 
Mark and Titus, yet he could carry dispatches upon 
which hung the fate of many battles. 

He was one of those many young men like Arte- 
mas, Secundas, Trophimus, and Aristarchus, who 
would never have been heard of had not the giant 
heart of the great Apostle magnetized them with the 
lofty passions of his own soul, lifted them to the 
hights of his own sublime faith and courage, and 
then hurled them eager and unafraid against the 
powers of evil with that torch of truth which shall 
yet illumine all the dark places of the earth. 

But though Tychicus always labored under the 
direction of Paul and, like many another loyal 
friend of the Apostle, is completely obscured and 
overshadowed by the towering ability and fame of 
his leader, yet we would greatly err were we to 
adjudge him a man of inferior or merely ordinary 
talent. St. Paul made no such mistake. He re- 
joiced in having such a man by his side, not only 
that he might carry dispatches, but also that he 
might personally represent himself and speak in his 
name and clothed with his authority in the great 
churches at Ephesus and Colossae; and also, as 
seems probable, in many other churches in the prov- 
ince of Asia, and perhaps in Crete as well. 



TYCHICUS 245 

Thus by means of his friendship with Tychicus, 
as by means of all his many other friendships, the 
Apostle multiplied his presence and personality 
while still in the flesh, and also continued his life 
work after he had been summoned into the presence 
of his Maker. 

Of Paul's tender affection for Tychicus little need 
be added. He ever spoke of him as his " beloved 
brother, ' ' and honored him with that patent of nobil- 
ity which he conferred upon none other of his 
friends save Epaphras only — that of being a ''fellow 
servant " or ' ' fellow slave ' ' with himself in the Mas- 
ter 's work. If Paul so judged of the importance of 
Tychicus 's services to Christ, surely no man dare 
venture to give him lower rank. 

Neither Paul nor the early church could have 
dispensed with him, and we could ill spare the 
simple record of his loving services and self-forget- 
ting faithfulness. 



CHAPTER XVI 

Onesiphorus — A Friend Who Was Not Ashamed of 

Paul's Chain 



Our knowledge of the career of Onesiphorus is 
based upon the following passages: — 2nd Timothy 
1:16-18, and 4:19. 



OUR individual studies of Paul's friends are 
drawing to a close: we shall gaze upon 
the faintly etched portrait of but one 
more, yet one that must not be passed by 
too hurriedly, that of Onesiphorus — "a friend who 
was not ashamed of Paul's chain." Our knowledge 
of this man who took his religion with him when he 
took a journey, is confined to a single short letter of 
Paul's, his second to Timothy. Even in this only 
four verses refer to Onesiphorus, and the portrait 
itself is etched in three. The whole biography is 
condensed into sixty-one words. But what a flam- 
ing beacon are they. What a torch of undimming 
lustre the heroic character there immortally drawn. 
Its value to the world is more than that of many 
volumes written about some men. 

246 



ONESIPHORUS 247 

Whether or not Onesiphorus was one of the minor 
friends of St. Paul, we cannot with certainty answer. 
We catch but a dissolving view of his personality 
through the grateful memory and passing allusions 
of a doomed man ; but this dissolving view makes 
the entire New Testament richer, for it renews and 
enriches our faith in our common humanity by giv- 
ing us a fleeting glimpse of one of humanity's noblest 
types — a man of heroic mold, and a friend of death- 
less loyalty. It garlands the brow of friendship 
with new and unfading laurels. It pays one more 
tribute to Paul's genius for friendship, reveals 
another link in that chain of gold that fettered the 
hearts of men to his heart in the freedom of a joy- 
ous bondage. 

I 

"Such a One as Paul the Aged " 

The door of a Roman dungeon swings creakingly 
open, we peer into its murky depths. At first the 
gloom is impenetrable. We tarry at the threshold 
till our eyes gradually become accustomed to the 
darkness, and at length we faintly discern the 
shadowy outlines of three human forms. Two of 
these stand upright — they are Roman soldiers. We 
look closer, the third man rivets our attention, his 
form is bowed, his head whitened, his face marred 
and seamed beyond the sons of men, — he is "such a 
one as Paul the aged." We see him lift a hand to 
that weary brow, a chain clanks, it is shackled to his 
wrist. And there the most kingly man of his gen- 



248 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

eration sits alone — his only companions those mailed 
men who are keeping the "death watch." 

But why is this prisoner there, and why is he 
alone? He is there because he has not counted his 
life dear unto himself so that he might accomplish 
his course and the ministry which he received of the 
Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God. 
But why is he alone in this supreme and crisis hour ? 
Has he no friends to sit with him in the valley of the 
shadow? Yes — some. Where are they then? Well, 
the work which was dearer unto him than his own 
life was not going well in all parts of the vast empire 
he has conquered for his Lord; and so he has sent 
Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia, and Tychicus 
to Ephesus. 

But that accounts for but three, surely this man 
has other friends, where are they? Some of them 
we know were about their necessary duties. Luke 
is with him most or all of the time, but Timothy is 
busy in his pastorate at Ephesus and Mark on a mis- 
sion probably in Asia Minor. Phygellus and Her- 
mogenes and a few others of Asia in whom he 
trusted have turned away from him because he is a 
condemned man, his life forfeited, and almost any 
day may prove his last. But what of all the Chris- 
tians in the great church here in Rome to whom 
years ago he wrote that long letter pouring out his 
heart's longing to see them face to face? Some of 
these are still in touch with him such as Eubulus, 
Pudens, Linus, and Claudia. But it is better now 
for the peace of the church that most of the Roman 



ONESIPHORUS 249 

Christians should hold somewhat aloof from this 
extremest in the cause of Christ. 

But look ! What new thought is now piercing 
that heart and contracting that furrowed face? 
Read those pitiless thoughts. Listen and you shall 
overhear a soul's silent anguish, you shall hear its 
wordless woe — "At my first defense, no one took my 
part, but all forsook me. Demas — Demas too hath 
forsaken me." A shudder shakes that shrunken 
form, a broken sob, then all is still once more save 
the clanking of a chain. The cell door is closed, we 
pass hence. The prisoner is left alone with the 
death watch and — his thoughts. 

Night comes on. The prisoner sinks into exhausted 
and troubled slumber. He dreams of other days that 
have been, of other days that shall be, and sighs for 
his release — a release which any hour may bring. 
Suddenly he is aroused by clattering feet in the 
corridor outside, a key turns quickly in the door. 
It must be soldiers to lead him forth to his execution, 
he struggles to his feet, "I am ready," he feebly 
cries. "Paul, Paul, do you not know me?" rings 
out on the midnight air. Who, what? — No, it cannot 
be. — Yes, it is, it is. It is Onesiphorus of Ephesus. 
Though the axe is already uplifted, though some 
men have forsaken him, though death threatens all 
who dare breathe his name, yet there is one man left 
in the world besides Luke who "is not ashamed of 
his chain," who has sought him out diligently and 
found him. Humanity, thou wert on trial in that 
hour, thy sentence was about to be pronounced, — 



250 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

but stay ! one man has redeemed mankind from 
eternal infamy. Humanity is absolved from that 
unpardonable crime, Paul is no longer alone, Onesi- 
phorus has gained his side before the axe falls. Let 
the curtain drop. The hour and place are too sacred 
for even the most loving eyes to linger, for even the 
tenderest scrutiny or contemplation. 

II 

The Bravery and Loyalty of Onesiphorus 

''The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesi- 
phorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not 
ashamed of my chain; but, when he was in Rome, 
he sought me out very diligently, and found me. ' ' So 
Paul wrote to Timothy some days later after Onesi- 
phorus had already been compelled to leave his side, 
or, as some plausibly maintain, had forfeited his life 
because he counted it not dear unto himself if only 
he could be of service or comfort to his heart's 
better self — Paul, the prisoner of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

Bravery and loyalty would seem to be the keynote 
to this man's character. When Paul was already 
sentenced to death, when weaker friends were falling 
away, when it was perilous even to know him, and 
when access to his side was extremely difficult, then 
appears Onesiphorus on the scene, learns in some 
way of Paul's plight, and, scorning danger, despis- 
ing the craven-hearted, defying Nero to do his worst, 
he overcomes every obstacle that fear and malice 
can suggest and at last penetrates the Imperial 



ONESIPHORUS 251 

dungeon and flies to the arms of his old friend. 
And so in that felon cell love's pure flame was once 
more kindled — and still after nineteen hundred 
years we are warned and gladdened by its heavenly 
glow. 

What originally called Onesiphorus to Rome we 
cannot say, but apparently it had nothing to do with 
St. Paul or his imprisonment. After learning of 
his condition it would have been an easy and pru- 
dent thing for Onesiphorus, and a thing a man of 
lesser loyalty would have done, to have spent his 
time in executing his original mission, and then use 
any spare moments in sightseeing in that vast and 
bewilderingly attractive city. And Onesiphorus 
could have given himself and the world plausible 
excuses for not attempting to visit his whilom pastor 
at Ephesus, the aged Paul, the doomed prisoner of 
the Imperial Court. He might have salved his con- 
science by pleading the impossibility of gaining 
access to the condemned man ; he might have argued 
the futility of such a visit even were it possible. He 
might have urged the folly of needlessly endanger- 
ing his own life and so exposing his household to 
the resultant suffering. 

But love was stronger than death, loyalty mightier 
than prudence — and the result, who knows? Paul 
in writing of the joy of this visit to himself solemnly 
prays for ' ' mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus ' ' — 
would the father never return to gladden its portals 
again? And as the letter of this aged pastor draws 
to a close he begs his beloved friend Timothy, now 



252 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

his successor in the pastorate at Ephesus, to ' ' salute 
the house of Onesiphorus ' ' — was his heart in that 
dank dungeon, forgetful of its own misery, bleeding 
with the sorrow awaiting the home of his former 
parishioners in far-off Ephesus? 

Ill 

Onesiphorus in His Home Church 

Thus far we have considered Onesiphorus simply 
as the friend of St. Paul. Did we know nothing else 
about him his fame would be secure, his memory 
fragrant. That aspect of his character alone lifts 
him to the hight and rank of the world's heroic men. 
It gives him entry into the fellowship of the su- 
premely brave. 

But we have not exhausted this man's worth nor 
our knowledge of the same, when the last word shall 
have been spoken concerning his loyalty to friend- 
ship's loftiest ideals. Paul remarks in his letter to 
Timothy "in how many things he ministered at 
Ephesus thou knowest very well." Here we have 
another and entirely new revelation of his worth as 
a man and Christian. The Revised Version correctly 
omits the words "unto me" after the word "min- 
istered." 

Onesiphorus 's service was to the church and cause 
of Christianity as a whole. Evidently he was one 
of Paul's most efficient laymen when he was serving 
the Ephesian church. Three things in this brief 
reference of Paul's emphasize our conception of the 
large place Onesiphorus filled in his home church: 



ONESIPHORUS 253 

the phrase "in how many things," proving various 
talent, interest, and activity; the Greek verb trans- 
lated " ministered ' ' has the same root from which 
is derived the noun " deacon ;" and, lastly, the phrase 
"thou knowest very well" witnesses to the fact 
that his services were of exceptional merit and 
prominence. 

IV 

"The Light That Never Was on Sea or Land " 

Second Timothy is a sad letter, a letter of profound 
contrasts. It is a letter where deepest gloom is 
shot through with rays of celestial glory. It is the 
last message penned by the hand, dripping from the 
bleeding heart — of a man who is looking into his own 
open grave. It has in it, perhaps, something of the 
pagan's horror of the grave, yet infinitely more of 
the saint's shout of victory. How some of its pas- 
sages bring to mind Paul's own ringing words 
written in other years to the church at Corinth: 
"0 death, where is thy sting? grave, where is 
thy victory? .... Thanks be to God, which 
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
Christ." 

This letter again has in it the bitter cry of be- 
trayed confidence, and the unwordable joy of death- 
less loyalty. In it a few men are bitterly denounced 
for their cowardice and pusillanimity, one man only 
is highly praised, and that man is Onesiphorus. Un- 
conscious of any heroism, without any pose or 
thought of self, this man by his brave act cheered 



254 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

the dying hours of the greatest man whose form 
ever bowed beneath the world's burdens, whose 
heart ever broke for the world's sins and ingratitude. 
His visit to Paul in his last hours, in his extremity 
of anguish, was for Paul what Mary's anointing of 
Christ was for him, a touch of human tenderness 
and devotion that gave strength for sacrifice, — 
Paul's giving his life for his mission, Christ's giving 
his life for the world. These gifts, these supreme 
sacrifices of Paul and Christ, were not wholly vain, 
at least one heart was loyal to the last, at least one 
soul understood. 

And Onesiphorus 's reward? Ah, he was not 
thinking of that. One glance into Paul's seamed — 
nay, transfigured face, that was enough for him, and 
will be through the ages to come. But another has 
said, one greater than Onesiphorus, yea, greater than 
Onesiphorus 's beloved friend himself — "Verily I say 
unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of 
the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto 
me. ' ' And so this man from far-off Ephesus who in 
Imperial Rome itself would not let a dungeon 's walls 
nor Nero's murderous frown keep him from Paul's 
death watch, shall in eternity be linked in compan- 
ionship and reward with him who was the greatest 
of the Apostles — so saith he whose throne is in the 
heavens, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. 

And so human friendship wears the seal and sanc- 
tion of the Infinite, and eternity is made tributary 
to its fruition and joy. 



CHAPTER XVII 

Postscript — A Last Glance at Christianity's Imperial 
Friend and Empire Builder 

WE have completed our individual 
studies of Paul's friends, — sixteen 
in all. There are some others who 
deserve a place in this splendid 
galaxy, but they must be passed by. Before closing 
the record for good, however, let us take a last 
rapid survey of the career of St. Paul, Christianity's 
mightiest Empire Builder, and note once more the 
imperial sweep of his achievements and the part 
played therein by his friends and his genius for 
friendship. 

Paul received his great commission while praying 
in the temple at Jerusalem not long after his con- 
version. In that solemn hour the Lord said unto 
him — "Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto 
the Gentiles.' ' His ambition thenceforward was to 
be the first to preach the Gospel in every part of the 
known world where it had not already been heard. 
Hence years afterwards, when at Corinth he was 
planning a journey into Spain, he could write to the 
church at Rome — "Yea, so have I striven to preach 
the Gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I 
should build upon another man's foundation." 

To achieve his stupendous purposes Paul always 
made a dash for the great cities believing, like 

255 



256 SAINT PAUL'S FEIENDSHIPS 

Napoleon eighteen centuries later, that if he once 
gained possession of the enemy's Capitol he could 
easily win and hold all the surrounding territory. 
So he began his career preaching at Damascus and 
Jerusalem, and later on seized for Christ such 
strongholds as Autioch, Ephesus, Philippi, Corinth, 
and Rome. 

Of these many cities in which he preached, three 
were, for some years in succession, his headquarters 
in which, like a conquering General, he formulated 
his vast plans, and from which he went forth on his 
victorious campaigns. And ever he moved steadily 
westward, as he completed the conquest of the terri- 
tory in the vicinity of his headquarters. 

The first Capitol of that ultimately enormous 
empire which he was to claim and win for Christ, 
was Antioch in Syria. From Antioeh he marched 
forth with Barnabas and Mark for the conquest of 
Cyprus and Asia Minor, and to Antioch he returned 
at the conclusion of the campaign. Again he went 
forth from this Capitol with Silas expecting to com- 
plete the subjugation of the territory already over- 
run ; but strengthening his forces by the addition of 
Timothy, he felt emboldened to push on for the con- 
quest of central and western Asia Minor. While 
pausing at Troas he formed a junction with Luke 
and, having been diverted from his original designs, 
crossed over into Europe and gained a foothold in 
Macedonia and Greece. 

Now again he turned back to Antioch, but on the 
way thither stopped a few days at Ephesus. Seeing 



POSTSCRIPT 257 

at a glance the strategic importance of this location, 
he promised as speedy a return as possible; and 
after having reported at headquarters, he made his 
way back to Ephesus as rapidly as he could con- 
sistently with the necessity of strengthening his 
long line of garrisons between the two cities. Ar- 
rived at last at Ephesus he immediately made that 
city the new Capitol of the large empire he had won 
for Christ, which now extended hundreds of miles 
west of his original headquarters ; that is, from An- 
tioch in Syria to the heart of Macedonia and Greece. 

Here Paul settled down for three years, making 
Ephesus the hub in the wheel of his extensive opera- 
tions, while his many friends as Generals and Field 
Marshals in command of various armies and citadels 
perfected the conquest of western Asia Minor, 
Macedonia, and Greece. Here there labored with 
him Aquila and Priscilla, Onesiphorus and Apollos, 
Gaius and Aristarchus, Trophimus and Titus. From 
here he sent forth Timothy and Erastus to maintain 
his grip upon Macedonia, and again Titus and Tim- 
othy to hold in check the insurrectionary Corin- 
thians. From here it is believed he directed the 
work of Epaphras and Philemon in the conquest of 
Colossae, Hierapolis, and Laodicea. From here, too, 
he himself set out on his last victorious march 
through Macedonia and Greece. 

But Paul's ambition was as boundless as that of 
any Napoleon of Empire or of Industry. Like them 
his restless spirit found no ease as long as there 
were other realms to conquer. No past achieve- 



258 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

ments could still his ever ringing cry — "Forward, 
march!" And so at length this warrior-preacher 
and Christian statesman stood on the eastern shore 
of the Adriatic sea. 

Watch him as he stands there. He boldly declares 
in the very language of victory that he has fully 
preached the Gospel of Christ from Jerusalem and 
round about, up through Syria, across Asia Minor, 
over the Hellespont, throughout Macedonia and 
Greece unto Illyricum, the very foothills of the 
northern Alps. His language has the martial thrill 
of one of Napoleon's bulletins to his soldiers after 
some Austerlitz. But watch the man, notice his posi- 
tion, look into his eyes, study their fixed and en- 
raptured gaze, lift up your own eyes and with the 
vision of the soul and imagination see what this 
ever victorious soldier of the Cross sees. He is not 
counting the battles already won nor is he athrill 
with the memory of the echoing plaudits of his 
triumphs. He is like Alexander at the Indus, his 
face is forward. He is like Napoleon at Warsaw, 
unconquered Russia is beyond — of what satisfaction 
are past achievements, the lands and cities already 
conquered. 

But what does the Apostle see? Not conquered 
Antioch and Ephesus and Corinth, but uncon- 
quered Rome and Spain and "the regions beyond." 
The sun sinks low over the Adriatic's gently heav- 
ing waters. Its last rays transfigure with celestial 
beauty the rugged, glowing features of the man 
whose feet, pointing westward, are already dipped 



POSTSCRIPT 259 

into the sea. The West is acalling, and a soul 
aflame again hears a voice "not heard by others. " 
He will now make Imperial Rome, the Eternal City 
itself, his new headquarters, whence he can set on 
foot the conquest of Spain and other new campaigns 
for the glory of his Lord and the extension of his 
kingdom. 

How thrillingly he anticipated the carrying out 
of his vast designs. Pausing at Corinth after his 
work at Ephesus was done he boldly hurled across 
the Adriatic sea and over the Apennines into the Im- 
perial City his fearless declaration of immediate in- 
vasion and his intention of making that city his new 
Capitol, whence he would march forth to conquer 
the utmost West for the Cross of Christ. Here is 
his ringing bulletin in his own words: "Without 
ceasing I make mention of you always in my pray- 
ers ; making request, if by any means now at length 
I might have a prosperous journey by the will of 
God to come unto you. ... As much as in me 
lies, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that 
are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the 
gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto 
salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew 
first, and also to the Greek. . . . Through 
mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit 
of God . . . from Jerusalem, and round about 
unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of 
Christ. Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, 
not where Christ was named, lest I should build 
upon another man 's foundation : but as it is written, 



260 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and 
they that have not heard shall understand. For 
which cause also I have been much hindered from 
coming to you. But now having no more place in 
these parts, and having a great desire these many 
years to come unto you; whensoever I take my 
journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust 
to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my 
way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat 
filled with your company. For now I go unto 
Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath 
pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make 
a certain contribution for the poor saints which are 
at Jerusalem. . . . When, therefore, I have per- 
formed this, and sealed to them this fruit, I will 
come by you into Spain.' ' 

But how has it been possible for the achievements 
of this man in so few years to cover so widely and 
so thoroughly such an immense territory? In pre- 
cisely the same way that Napoleons of Empire and 
of Industry are able to achieve so much, by choosing 
agents who are everywhere present, everywhere 
loyal, everywhere accomplishing their leader's will. 
Herein, then, lies the secret, humanly speaking, of 
Paul's masterly successes. He bound his friends to 
himself and his work heart and soul. These mul- 
tiplied his presence and personality. Through them 
he was achieving results simultaneously in many 
lands and cities, invading new territory and gar- 
risoning that already won. 



POSTSCRIPT 261 

It will forever remain as one of the highest testi- 
monies to the greatness of Paul that he had a genius 
for discovering ability in other men, and in attach- 
ing them to himself personally and to that cause to 
which he was ever paying the last full measure of 
his strength and devotion. By the sheer might of 
his personality he lifted his friends to his own 
hight of moral grandeur and heroism. He so 
breathed into their souls the strength of his own 
love and the fire of his own enthusiasm that they 
were ready to do all for him and for his work that 
he would do for them and for that same cause. He 
made the master passion of his life the master pas- 
sion of their lives. Such a leader of men was he 
that he molded them all to fit into his life purposes, 
and, directed by his genius, together they wrought 
world-changing achievements. 

One of America's most eminent " captains of 
industry ' ' has publicly stated that he owed his great 
success in life to the fact that he had gotten 
"smarter" men than himself to work for him. And 
all know that the success of any President's admin- 
istration depends very largely, if not mainly, upon 
his ability to discern ability in other men; to attach 
these to himself personally and to the policies he 
represents; and to so guide all that they may work 
together well in harness, both with one another and 
with himself. Men great individually have often 
miserably failed for the lack of such talent. The 
world's history is strewed thick with the wreckage 
of such careers. On the other hand, men of seem- 



262 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

ingly very mediocre abilities have turned the course 
of civilization into other and loftier channels by the 
possession of the talent to select, combine, inspire, 
and then hurl masterfully and unswervingly toward 
a given object the combined gifts of many minds. 

Such master-genius had St. Paul. So he became, 
not a "captain of industry, " but a "Captain of 
Evangelism," the supreme statesman, nay, the very 
Prime Minister of early Christianity. 

As he marched to battle or swept in triumph over 
conquered realms, some of his Field Marshals were 
ever with him to advise in the council of war, to 
command in the hour of battle. "And there accom- 
panied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the 
Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and 
Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, 
Tychicus, and Trophimus." 

At times he would send some of his friends in 
advance to spy out the land, do scout duty and 
reconnoiter. At other times he would leave them 
behind to complete the conquest of a city or prov- 
ince where he had already won a decisive victory 
in pitched battle. Again he would send them to 
distant cities to settle without his presence local 
outbreaks and disturbances. Now he would send 
them on far journeys to great cities with important 
dispatches and verbal instructions; now to organize 
whole provinces he had simply conquered and gar- 
risoned; and again he would send them forth on 
independent commands to subdue new regions. But 
wheresoever they went, they went at his command, 



POSTSCRIPT 263 

did his bidding, carried out his policies, and later 
returned to him or wrote to him for farther instruc- 
tions at every crisis hour. Thus he held the post 
of Commander-in-Chief with his eye on every sub- 
ordinate officer in the whole army and along the 
entire battlefront. 

We have already listened to Paul's boldly an- 
nounced plan for the invasion of Rome and conquest 
of Spain. Sweeping were the combinations, mas- 
terly the strategy of this indomitable old warrior. 
But God willed otherwise. He came to Rome not 
with the laurels and plaudits of a victorious General, 
but as a captive chained to the chariot wheels of 
some ruthless conqueror. 

Apparently thwarted and defeated, yet the out- 
come was for the best. Instead of adding new ter- 
ritory to the realms already seized, there was need 
of consolidating these, and such was to be the 
remaining task of this warrior-statesman. A march 
into Spain would have left unguarded and so im- 
periled his earlier conquests, as Napoleon's Russian 
campaign proved the undoing of his previous vic- 
tories. Paul's plan for farther advance being 
thwarted by his imprisonment, he at once set about 
the thorough subjugation of Rome itself, and the 
suppressing of all revolt in the distant provinces of 
the East. 

Nero regarded himself as the sole master of the 
Imperial City and overlord of the known world. 
But in one of his dungeons was a despised Jew who 
was undermining the sway of the Caesars in Rome 



264 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

itself; and, at the same time, founding a kingdom 
on the eastern and northern shores of the Mediter- 
ranean which would live on in perennial youth long 
after the reign of Nero should be but a memory. 
Over the Roman highways marched thundering 
legions with the shout of battle on their lips. Over 
these same highways passed the solitary figures of 
young men whose hearts were pulsating with a 
mighty passion. Their eyes were fixed on far-off 
Rome and thither their feet were hastening, — not 
to fawn on Imperial favor, not to seek positions in 
the Roman legions nor to witness the sports of the 
amphitheatre; but to counsel with and receive com- 
mands from a certain Roman prisoner, one Paul of 
Tarsus, Commander-in-Chief of all the armies of 
Jesus Christ, an ''Empire Builder " in comparison 
with whose achievements the conquests of Alexander, 
Caesar, and Napoleon sink to a lower level. Their 
empires have passed away. That which he founded 
has spread with the speeding centuries. 

Of this commander's many Generals and Aides- 
de-Camp, only Luke and Aristarchus entered the city 
with him. But his other Lieutenants left behind in 
the East joined him from time to time. And so at 
various times there were with him, fighting by his 
side for the conquest of the city by the Tiber, 
such soldiers as Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and 
Claudia; such Aides-de-Camp as Epaphroditus and 
Onesimus; such Brigadiers as Jesus Justus, Demas, 
and Onesiphorus; such Generals of Divisions as 
Epaphras, Tychicus, and Crescens; such Field Mar- 



POSTSCRIPT 265 

shals as Timothy, Titus, and Mark. The success of 
these men fighting by Paul's side in Rome, is re- 
vealed in his own words where he says — "But I 
wish ye should understand, brethren, that the 
things which happened unto me have fallen out 
rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; so that 
my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, 
and in all other places; and many of the brethren 
in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much 
more bold to speak the word without fear." And 
again he writes at the close of his letter to the 
Philippians — "All the saints salute you, chiefly they 
that are of Caesar's household.' ' 

From Paul's prison, which was now both a throne 
room and the headquarters of a commanding Gen- 
eral, he sent forth Tychicus and Onesimus with dis- 
patches to Ephesus and Colossae ; Epaphroditus with 
dispatches to Philippi; Timothy he sent back to 
Ephesus to hold that city for Christ, Titus to Dal- 
matia, Crescens to Galatia, and Mark on a tour 
through Greece or Asia Minor. And so in the Im- 
perial City, which from her Seven Hills ruled the 
world, was another Empire Builder making grander 
conquests for a grander kingdom than that ruled 
over or dreamed of by the Caesars. 

And thus by degrees as the years came and went 
this mighty statesman and soldier, with empires 
seething in his brain and future generations tugging 
at his heart, by personal example and counsel and 
by repeatedly trusting his subordinates in independ- 
ent commands, so trained them that when the day 



266 SAINT PAUL'S FEIENDSHIPS 

came for him to lay aside the shoulderstraps forever 
there was a score of his lieutenants able to assume 
command — he had made himself no longer necessary, 
the ultimate triumph of his life purpose was already 
assured. 

And all that Paul was then achieving he was 
achieving by the matchless spetl of his genius for 
friendship. Through his friends he was holding an 
empire loyal to his Lord. And so perfectly did he 
train these friends of his that his death caused no 
more disturbance to the realms he had conquered 
than did the death of Washington to the welfare 
and progress of the United States. 

This I deem the crowning proof of a man's great- 
ness, that at death he is no longer necessary to the 
success of that to which he has devoted all his 
powers. 

There are two classes of great men who are not 
supremely great. That man is not supremely great, 
however much he may achieve in life, who leaves a 
completed work at his death with nothing remaining 
to call forth the loyalty and labors of other men. 
Such a life work is at best either of small signifi- 
cance, or of but temporary value to mankind. Nor 
is that other man supremely great, however much 
he may achieve and plan in life, if, at his death, 
he does not leave behind trained successors to go 
forward with his work as though he were still pres- 
ent with them. The work of such men, however 
stupendous and dazzling, and their plans, however 
far-reaching and beneficent, topple over when they 



POSTSCRIPT 267 

are no longer present to direct and inspire. They 
lack an essential, an indispensable, element of great- 
ness; that element without which all others fail of 
lasting significance, the ability to so recognize 
ability in others, and so enlist that ability in their 
own life work that, when dead, their works shall 
follow them on through the coming tides of time. 

He is the supremely great man who brings his 
own individual work to a well-rounded close, yet 
who at the same time leaves a grandly, a divinely 
unfinished work for his friends and after generations 
to carry on and perfect. He is the man who has 
planned so broadly that it will take all time to 
achieve his dreams; and yet who has planned so 
exactly, and trained others so splendidly, that he 
can complete his part of the whole and then pass 
on to his reward without being missed. Such a 
man was the Apostle Paul. 

And so he gave proof of the loftiest statesman- 
ship of genius and of service. And his ability to 
achieve these things was through his genius for 
friendship. He had neither position, wealth, nor 
fame to offer men. But he gave them what was 
better — his heart. He honored them with badges 
of distinction high above all decorations monarchs 
can bestow — a share in his labors and perils. And 
the finest ability of the choicest young men of that 
age gathered about his standard; and when his 
slackened hand let go the flagstaff, the banner he 
had so long held aloft still flung forth its ample folds 
without a tremor, shining afar on every breeze that 



268 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

blew. And so it was that few realized the event 
when the old warrior entered into his rest. 

The fact that Paul thus planned a work which 
only time could consummate, proves that he had 
entered into something of the counsels and purposes 
of Providence, which reach on from generation to 
generation. 

In this matter of his life work, as in so many- 
other ways, Paul was like his divine Lord and Mas- 
ter. Christ could say in his prayer the night of his 
betrayal — "I have finished the work thou gavest 
me to do." And on the Cross he could say "It is 
finished." Yet only a few men then believed on 
his name, only a little seed had been sown, Chris- 
tianity had but just been born; undiscovered con- 
tinents, teeming millions, had never heard his name 
and would not hear it for sixty generations yet to 
come. What, then, mean those words "it is fin- 
ished ?" Two things they mean; — that Christ's 
individual work in the world was done; and that 
his plans for all subsequent ages had been given to 
the world, and the work of achieving these entrusted 
to those whom he now no longer called "servants 
but friends, because all things that he had heard 
of the Father he had made known unto them." 
The physical presence of Christ was no longer 
necessary to his friends, his work, or mankind. He 
himself had said "it is expedient for you that I go 
away." The work would go on without him. He 
was now unnecessary to its success. He had built 



POSTSCRIPT 269 

with the master genius, the divine genius of the 
Son of God. 

How like him was St. Paul in his life and work 
and friendships. In his dying hour Paul too could 
say — "For I am now ready to be offered, and the 
time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a 
good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept 
the faith. ' ' And Paul meant by this precisely what 
Christ meant by his words on the Cross. He had 
finished his individual work, and his plans for evan- 
gelizing the known world had been fully made and 
were now confidently entrusted to his friends who 
were prepared to go on with them without his 
farther instructions or supervision. Paul had made 
himself unnecessary to the world. And so Paul was 
the consummate statesman, the supreme construc- 
tive genius — he finished his own work; rounded out 
his own career; and yet, at the same time, had but 
laid the foundations of that splendid cathedral for 
the Divine habitation among men, which it would 
take all the after generations to complete. But he 
had drawn the plans for the entire structure, given 
others a glimpse of its ultimate radiancy of glory, 
and trained them to be themselves master-builders. 

He was no Napoleon whose work would topple 
over even before his own death. He was a Wash- 
ington, whose services to mankind only millenniums 
could perfect, yet whose death caused not a quiver 
to the structure he had begun to rear. To employ 
and adapt the language used by Napoleon of a man 



270 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

of his day — or by a contemporary of Napoleon him- 
self, history reports both ways — " There was a time 
when the death of St. Paul would have been an 
event; when it did occur, it was only a piece of 
news." His friends and lieutenants had been so 
trained in many a hard fought campaign by the 
personal example and under the eye of their im- 
perial leader that when at last he fell at his post, 
dying a soldier's death, there was not a break in 
the line anywhere; his Field Marshals, Generals, 
and Captains could now carry on the war and win 
the victory without the " little corporal" of Tarsus. 

And so the friends and friendships of St. Paul 
which so comforted his own heart, and so enriched 
his own life and theirs, have also enriched 
the world for the nineteen centuries which have 
fled, and shall go on enriching the life of men till 
time itself grows gray and there dawns at last the 
unspeakable splendor of the millennial dawn. When 
in that day men see the Holy City, the new Jerusa- 
lem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared 
as a bride adorned for her husband, then, and then 
only, will they be able to comprehend and compute 
the world significance of St. Paul's genius for friend- 
ship, — the unmined, unmeasured, unminted wealth 
of his heart's riches. 

Here is the supreme evidence of Paul's genius as 
a constructive statesman, as well as matchless 
friend and peerless General and strategist. The 
final test of Moses's greatness did not come until 



POSTSCRIPT 271 

after his death; then it was vindicated by the fact 
that his successor could go on with his plans with- 
out break or pause. So was vindicated the real 
greatness of John Wesley and in our day of Frances 
E. Willard. The final test of Gen. Booth's claim 
to imperial achievement will come only when it has 
been seen whether he has trained others to fill his 
place and carry on his life mission without a jar 
when he shall have been summoned into the pres- 
ence of his Maker. 

Let us now ask ourselves one or two most signifi- 
cant questions: How much would be left of the 
record of Paul's achievements if we could cut out 
from his career the names and deeds of all his 
friends and all that he himself wrought through 
them? And what would their records be had they 
never been thrilled, inspired, and directed by his 
genius and passion for the spread of the Gospel? 
None can say, none can answer these baffling 
queries. 

"When it came to pass that Israel's mighty prophet 
Elijah was to be translated there was found by 
diligent search just one man who was capable of 
catching up his mantle and going forward with his 
life mission. When Paul's change came not one 
only, but a score of the loftiest characters of his 
generation stood ready to receive his mantle and 
prolong and hand on his mission; to command 
armies or organize and administer the affairs of 
cities and provinces, — and so his death was not an 
" event," but merely a "piece of news." 



272 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

Surely next to his Divine Lord and Master this 
man is the world's supreme exemplar of every high 
attribute which we associate with that sacred 
word — Friendship. 



APPENDIX 



Alphabetical list of Paul's friends and those to 
whom he sent individual greetings in his letters, 
together with all Scripture references to each save to 
Peter and John, and James, the Lord's brother. 

1. Achaicus— I Cor. 16 :17. 

2. Agabus— Acts 21:10-11. 

3. Amplias — Rom. 16:8. 

4. Axidronicus — Rom. 16:7. 

5. Apelles— Rom. 16:10. 

6. Apollos— Acts 18:24, 19:1; I Cor. 1:12, 3:4-22, 

4:6, 16:12, and Titus 3:13. 

7. Apphia— Phm. 1:2. 

8. Archippus— Col. 4 :17, and Phm. 1 :2. 

9. Aristarchus— Acts 19:29, 20:4-5, 27:1-2, Col. 

4:10, and Phm. 1:24. 

10. Aristobulus — Rom. 16:10. 

11. Artemus— Tit. 3 :12. 

12. Asyncritus — Rom. 16:14. 

13. Barnabas— Acts 4:36-37, 9:26-27, 11:22-30, 

12:25, 13:1-50, 14:1-28, 15:1-39, I Cor. 9:4-6, 
Gal. 2:1-13, and Col. 4:10. 

14. Carpus— 2nd Tim. 4:13. 

15. Cephas— Acts 15:6-7, 22, 25. 

16. Claudia— 2nd Tim. 4:21. 

273 



274 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

17. Clement— Phil. 4:3. 

18. Crescens— 2nd Tim. 4:10. 

19. Crispus— Acts 18:8, I Cor. 1:14. 

20. Damaris— Acts 17:34. 

21. Demas— Col. 4:14, Phm. 1:24, 2nd Tim. 4:10. 

22. Dionysius— Acts 17 :34. 

23. Epaphras— Col. 1:7-8, 4:12-13, Phm. 1:23. 

24. Epaphroditus— Phil. 2:25-30, 4:18. 

25. Epenetus — Rom. 16:5. 

26. Erastus 1st— Acts 19:22, 2nd Tim. 4:20. 

27. Erastus 2nd— Rom. 16:23. 

28. Eubulus— 2nd Tim. 4:21. 

29. Fortunatus— I Cor. 16:17. 

30. Gaius 1st— Acts 19 :29. 

31. Gaius 2nd— Acts 20 :4. 

32. Gaius 3rd— Rom. 16 :23, I Cor. 1 :14. 

33. Hermas— Rom. 16:14. 

34. Hermes— Rom. 16:14. 

35. Hermogenes — 2nd Tim. 1:15. 

36. Herodion — Rom. 16:11. 

37. James— Acts 15 :6, 13, 14, 22, 25. 

38. Jason 1st— Acts 17:5-9. 

39. Jason 2nd— Rom. 16 :21. 

40. Jesus Justus — Col. 4:11. 

41. John— Acts 15 :6, 22, 25. 

42. Julia— Rom. 16:15. 

43. Julius— Acts 27 :1, 3, 43. 

44. Junia — Rom. 16:7. 

45. Justus— Acts 18:7. 

46. Linus— 2nd Tim. 4:21. 



APPENDIX 275 

47. Lucius 1st — Acts 13 :1. 

48. Lucius 2nd— Rom. 16:21. 

49. Luke— Acts 16:10-17, 20:5-15, 21:1-18, 27:1, 

28:16, Luke 1:1-4, Acts 1:1-4, Col. 4:14, 2nd 
Tim. 4:11, and Phm. 1:24. 

50. Lydia— Acts 16 :14-15 and 40. 

51. Manaen — Acts 13:1. 

52. Mark— Acts 12:12, 25, 13:5, 13, 15:36-39, Col. 

4:10, 2nd Tim. 4:11, Phm. 1:24, 1st Pet. 5:13. 

53. Mary— Rom. 16:6. 

54. Mnason — Acts 21:16. 

55. Narcissus — Rom. 16:11. 

56. Nereus — Rom. 16 :15. 

57. Nymphas— Col. 4:15. 

58. Olympas — Rom. 16:15. 

59. Onesimus— Col. 4 :9, Phm. 1 :10-21. 

60. Onesiphorus— 2nd Tim. 1 :16-18, 4 :19. 

61. Patrobus— Rom. 16:14. 

62. Persis— Rom. 16:12. 

63. Phebe— Rom. 16:1-2. 

64. Philemon— Phm. 1:1-25. 

65. Philip— Acts 6 :5-6, 8 :5-40, 21 :8-10. 

66. Philologus — Rom. 16:15. 

67. Phlegon— Rom. 16:14. 

68. Phygellus— 2nd Tim. 1 :15. 

69-70. Aquila and Priscilla— Acts 18:1-3, 18, 26, 
Rom. 16:3-5, I Cor. 16:19, 2nd Tim. 4:19. 

71. Publius— Acts 28:7-8. 

72. Pudens— 2nd Tim. 4:21. 

73. Quartus— Rom. 16:23. 



276 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

74. Rufus— Rom. 16:13. 

75. Secundus — Acts 20:4. 

76. Silas (Silvanus)— Acts chs. 15, 16, 17 and 18, 

2nd Cor. 1:19, I Thes. 1:1, 2nd Thes. 1:1, 
I Pet. 5 :12. 

77. Simeon— Acts 13 :1. 

78. Sopater— Acts 20 :4. 

79. Sosipater— Rom. 16 :21. 

80. Sosthenes— I Cor. 1 :1. 

81. Stachys— Rom. 16:9. 

82. Stephanas— I Cor. 1:16, 16:15-17. 

83. Tertius— Rom. 16:22. 

84. Timothy— Acts 16 :1, 20 :24, Rom. 16 :21, I Cor. 

4:17, 16:10-11, 2nd Cor. 1:1 and 19, Phil. 1:1 
and 2:19-23, Col. 1:1-5, I Thes. 1:1, 3:2-6, 
2nd Thes. 1 :l-2, Phm. 1 :l-3, books of 1st and 
2nd Tim. Heb. 13 :23. 

85. Titus— 2nd Cor. 2 .12, 13, 7 :5-17, 8 :l-24, 12 :18, 

Gal. 2:1-4, 2nd Tim. 4:10, Epistle to Tit. 

86. Trophimus— Acts 20:4, 21:29, 2nd Tim. 4:20. 

87. Tryphena— Rom. 16:12. 

88. Tryphosa— Rom. 16:12. 

89. Tychicus— Acts 20:4, Eph. 6:21-22, Col. 4:7-9, 

2nd Tim. 4:12, Titus 3:12. 

90. Tyrannus — Acts 19:9. 

91. Urbane— Rom. 16:9. 

92. Zenas— Titus 3:13. 

Other Friends Whose Names Are Not Recorded 

The Philippian jailer— Acts 16 :27-37. 
Chief men of Asia — Acts 19 :30, 31. 



APPENDIX 277 

Disciples— Acts 21 :4-7. 
The Melitans— Acts 28:10. 
Puteoli Brethren— Acts 28 :14, 15. 
A Brother— 2nd Cor. 8 :18-22. 
Philippian Women — Phil. 4 :3. 
Mother of Rufus— Rom. 16 :13. 
Sister of Nereus — Rom. 16:15. 

II 

Domestic Terms Used by Paul in Referring to 
His Friends 

1. His " Mother "—The mother of Rufus— Rom. 

16:13. 

2. His "Sister"— Phebe— Rom. 16:1. 

3. His "Brothers"— 1. Quartus— Rom. 16:23. 

2. Sosthenes — I Cor. 1:1. 

3. Apollos— I Cor. 16:12. 

4. Tychicus— Eph. 6:21. 

5. Epaphroditus— Phil. 2:25. 

6. Philemon— 1 :7. 

4. His "Sons" — 1. Onesimus — Phm. 1:10. 

2. Timothy— I Tim. 1:2. 

3. Titus— Ti. 1:4. 

His "Little Children "—All the Galatians— 

Gal. 4:19. 
His "Beloved Sons" — All the Corinthians — 

I Cor. 4:14. 

5. He himself was a "Nurse"— I Thes. 2:7. 



278 



SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 



6. He "travailed in birth " as a mother — Gal. 4:19. 
He was as a " Father' ' to the Thessalonians — 

I Thes. 2 :11. 
He had as a "Father begotten" the Corinthians — 
I Cor. 4:15. 

7. He had given in marriage — 2nd Cor. 11 :2. 

Ill 

Those to Whom Paul Applied the Word (< Fellow y " 
in the Sense of Partner or Sharer 

"Fellow Laborers" — 1. Clement and others — 



1. 



2. 

3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 

7. 

2. 1 1 Fellow Prisoners ' ' — 1. 

2. 
3. 
4. 

3. "Fellow Servants"— 1. 

2. 

4. "Fellow Soldiers "—1. 

2. 

5. "Fellow Workers"—!. 



2. 
3. 



Phil. 4:3. 
Timothy— I Thes. 3 :2. 
Philemon — Phm. 1:1. 
Mark— Phm. 1:24. 
Aristarchus — Phm.l :24 
Demas — Phm. 1:24. 
Luke— Phm. 1:24. 
Andronicus — Rom. 16 :7 
Junia — Rom. 16 :7. 
Aristarchus — Col. 4 :10. 
Epaphras — Phm. 1:23. 
Epaphras — Col. 1:7. 
Tychicus — Col. 4:7. 
Epaphroditus — 

Phil. 2:25. 
Archippus — Phm. 1 :2. 
Aristarchus — 

Col. 4:10-11. 
Mark— Col. 4:10-11. 
Justus— Col. 4:10-11. 



APPENDIX 279 

IV 

Some of the Cities, Provinces, Continents, and Races 
Represented Among Paul's Friends 

1. Cities — 1. Damascus by Disciples — Acts 9 :22-25. 

2. Antioch by Simeon — Acts 13:1. 

3. Jerusalem by Silas — Acts 15 :22. 

4. Thyatira by Lydia — Acts 16 :14. 

5. Philippi by the Jailor— Acts 16 :27-34. 

6. Athens by Dionysius — Acts 17 :34. 

7. Thessalonica by Secundus — Acts 20 :4 

8. Berea by Sopater — Acts 20 :4. 

9. Derbe by Gaius — Acts 20:4. 

10. Ephesus by the Elders— Acts 20 :17-34 

11. Tyre by whole families — Acts 21.3-5. 

12. Cenchrea by Phebe — Rom. 16 :1. 

13. Corinth by Fortunatus— I Cor. 16 :17. 

14. Colossae by Onesimus — Col. 4:9. 

15. Rome by Linus — 2nd Tim. 4 :21. 

2. Islands — 1. Cyprus by Barnabas — Acts 4:36. 

2. Melita by Publius— Acts 28 :7. 

3. Countries — 1. Judea by Apostles and Elders — 

Acts 15 :23-26. 

2. Macedonia by Aristarchus — Acts 

19 :29. 

3. Province of Asia by Tychicus — 

Acts 20:4. 

4. Italy by Brethren— Acts 28 :15. 

5. Achaia by Stephanas — 1st Cor. 

16 :15. 



280 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

4. Races — 1. Jew and Greek mixed by Timothy — 

Acts 16:1-3. 

2. Roman by Publius— Acts 28 :7. 

3. Jews by Andronicus — Rom. 16 :7. 

4. Greek by Titus— Gal. 2 :3. 

5. Continents — 1. Asia by Mark — Acts 12 :12 ? 13 :5. 

2. Africa by Apollos — Acts 18 :24. 

3. Europe by Eubulus — 2nd Tim. 

4:21. 

V 

Three Men Whom Paul Associated With Himself in 
the Authorship of Some of His Letters 

1. Sosthenes — I Cor. 1:1. 

2. Timothy— 2nd Cor. 1:1, Phil. 1:1, Col. 1:1, I 

Thes. 1 :1, 2nd Thes. 1 :1 . 

3. Silas— I Thes. 1 :1, 2nd Thes. 1 :1. 

VI 

Three Men Who Deserted Paul 

1. Phygellus— 2nd Tim. 2:15. 

2. Hermogenes — 2nd Tim. 2:15. 

3. Demas— 2nd Tim. 4 :10. 

VII 

Some Who Aided Paul in Founding His Great 

Churches 

1. Churches in Cyprus — Barnabas and Mark — Acts 

13:1-13. 

2. Churches in Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, 

and Derbe — Barnabas — Acts 13:14 — 14:28. 



APPENDIX 281 

3. Churches of Phrygia and Galatia — Silas and 

Timothy— Acts 15:40, 16:8. 

4. Church at Philippi — Silas, Timothy, and Luke — 

Acts 16:8-40. 

5. Churches at Thessalonica and Berea — Silas and 

Timothy— Acts 17 :1-15. 

6. Church at Corinth — Silas, Timothy, and Aquila 

and Priscilla — Acts 18 :1-17. 

7. Church at Ephesus — Aquila and Priscilla — Acts 

18:18, 19:10. 

Timothy— Acts 19:22. 

Erastus— Acts 19:22. 

Aristarchus — Acts 19:29. 

Gaius— Acts 19 :29. 

Titus— 2nd Cor. 12:18. 
(Refers to time Paul at Eph.) 

Apollos— I Cor. 16:12. 
(Refers to time Paul at Eph.) 

VIII 

Some Friends Who Saved Paul's Life on Various 

Occasions 

1. At Damascus — Acts 9:24, 25. 

2. At Jerusalem— Acts 9 :28-30. 

3. At Thessalonica— Acts 17:10. 

4. At Ephesus— Acts 19 :29-31. 

5. Again at Jerusalem — Acts 23:12-24. 

6. At Melita— Acts 27 :42, 43. 

7. By Aquila and Priscilla — Rom. 16:3-4. 



282 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

IX 

Some of Those Who Journeyed With Paul on His 
Various Missionary Tours 

1. Barnabas — Acts 13 :2. 

2. Mark— Acts 13 :5. 

3. Silas— Acts 15 :40. 

4. Timothy— Acts 16:1. 

5. Luke— Acts 16 :10. 

6-7. Aqufta and Priscilla — Acts 18 :18. 

8. Erastus— Acts 19 :22. 

9. Gaius— Acts 19 :29. 

10. Aristarchus — Acts 19:29. 

11. Sopater — Acts 20:4. 

12. Secundus— Acts 20:4. 

13. Gaius of Derbe— Acts 20:4. 

14. Tychicus— Acts 20 :4. 

15. Trophimus — Acts 20:4. 

16. Titus— Gal, 2 :1. 

X 

Some of Those Paul Sent on Special Missions 

1. Erastus— Acts 19:22. 

2. Timothy— Acts 19:22. 

3. Phebe— Rom. 16:1. 

4. Titus— 2nd Cor. 8:16, 18. 

5. Tychicus— Eph. 6:21, 22. 

6. Epaphroditus— Phil. 2:25. 

7. Epaphras — Col. 4:8. 

8. Onesimus — Col. 4:9. 

9. Crescens— 2nd Tim. 4:10. 



APPENDIX 283 

XI 

Some of Those Who Labored With Paul Anywhere 

1. Barnabas — Acts 13:1. 

2. Simeon — Acts 13:1. 

3. Lucius — Acts 13 :1. 

4. Manaen — Acts 13:1. 

5. Mark — Acts 13:5. 

6. Silas— Acts 15:40. 

7. Timothy— Acts 16:1. 

8. Erastus— Acts 19 :22. 

9-10. Priscilla and Aquila— Acts 18:18, 19. 

11. Urbane — Rom. 16 :9. 

12. Apollos— I Cor. 16 :12. 

13. Titus— 2nd Cor. 8 :23. 

14. Epaphroditus— Phil. 2:25. 

15. Clement— Phil. 4:3. 

16. Tychicus— Col. 4:7. 

17. Jesus Justus — Col. 4 :11. 

18. Philemon— Phm. 1:1. 

19. Onesimus — Phm. 1:13. 

20. Aristarchus— Phm. 1:24. 

21. Demas— Phm. 1 :24. 

22. Luke— Phm. 1:24. 

23. Onesiphorus— 2nd Tim. 1:16-18. 

XII 
Some Whose Merit Paul Specially Praised 

1. Phebe— Rom. 16 :l-2. 

2. Aquila and Priscilla — Rom. 16:3-4. 

3. Apelles— Rom. 16:10. 

4. Tryphena — Rom. 16:12. 



284 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

5. Tryphosa — Rom. 16:12. 

6. Persis— Rom. 16:12. 

7. Titus— 2nd Cor. 8 :16, 17. 

8. Tychicus— Eph. 6:21. 

9. Timothy— Phil. 2:19-22. 

10. Epaphroditus— Phil. 2:30. 

11. Epaphras— Col. 1:7. 

12. Onesimus — Col. 4:10. 

13. Onesiphorus — 2nd Tim. 1 :16-18. 

14. Mark— 2nd Tim. 4 :11. 

XIII 

Different Social Classes and Professions Among 
Whom Paul Made Friends 

1. Missionary — Barnabas — Acts 13 :2. 

2. Apostles — Peter, James and others — Acts 15:6. 

3. Jailor— at Philippi— Acts 16 :33, 34. 

4-5. Tentmakers — Aqnila and Priscilla — Acts 
18:1-3. 

6. Ruler of Synagogue — Crispus — Acts 18:8. 

7. Evangelist — Philip — Acts 21:8. 

8. Prophet— Agabus— Acts 21 :10-11. 

9. Roman Centurion — Julius — Acts 27 :1, 42, 43. 

10. Chief Man of Melita— Publius— Acts 28:7. 

11. Chamberlain of Corinth — Erastus — Rom. 16:23. 

12. Physician — Luke — Col. 4:14. 

13. Minister — Archippus — Col. 4:17, Phm. 1:1-3. 

14. Lawyer — Zenas — Titus 3:13. 

15. Slaveholder — Philemon — Phm. 1:10. 

16. Slave — Onesimus — Phm. 1:10. 

17. Author — Mark — 2nd Tim. 4 :11, and his Gospel. 



APPENDIX 285 

XIV 

Some of His Kinsmen Who Were His Friends 

1. His Sister's Son— Acts 23:16. 

2. Andronicus — Rom. 16:7. 

3. Junia — Rom. 16 :7. 

4. Herodion — Rom. 16:11. 

5. Lucius — Rom. 16:21. 

6. Jason — Rom. 16 :21. 

7. Sosipater — Rom. 16 :21. 

XV 

Some Whom Paul Referred to in Terms of Strong 

Affection 

1. Epenetus — Rom. 16:5. 

2. Amplias — Rom. 16:8. 

3. Stachys— Rom. 16:9. 

4. Persis — Rom. 16:12. 

5. Epaphras — Col. 1:7. 

6. Onesimus — Col. 4:9. 

7. Luke— Col. 4:14. 

8. Tychicus— Eph. 6 :21. 

9. Timothy— 2nd Tim. 1:2. 

10. Philemon— Phm. 1:1. 

11. Apphia— Phm. 1:2. 

XVI 

Some of Those Who Received Paul Into Their Homes 

1. Lydia — Acts 16:15. 

2. Philippian Jailor— Acts 16 :33, 34. 

3. Jason— Acts 17:7. 



286 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS 

4-5. Aquila and Priscilla — Acts 18 :l-3. 

6. Justus — Acts 18:7. 

7. Disciples of Tyre— Acts 21:4. 

8. Brethren at Ptolemais — Acts 21:7. 

9. Philip— Acts 21:8. 

10. Mnason— Acts 21 :16. 

11. Publius— Acts 28 :7. 

12. Brethren of Puteoli— Acts 28 :13, 14. 

13. Gaius— Rom. 16 :23. 

XVII 

Some, in Addition to All the Above, Who Showed 
Paul Personal Kindnesses 

1. Barnabas— Acts 9 : 26, 27. 

2. Julius— Acts 27 :3. 

3. The Melitans— Acts 28 :2. 

4. Phebe— Rom. 16:1-2. 

5. Mary— Rom. 16:6. 

6. The Mother of Rufus— Rom. 16 :13. 

7. Tertius— Rom. 16 :22. 

8. Epaphroditus— Phil. 2:25. 

9. Onesiphorus— 2nd Tim. 1 :16-18. 
10. Carpus— 2nd Tim. 4:13. 

XVIII 

Those at Borne at Any Time With Paul the Prisoner 

1. Tychicus— Eph. 6:21. 

2. Timothy— Phil. 2:19. 

3. Epaphroditus— Phil. 4:18. 

4. Epaphras— Col. 1:7-8. 

5. Jesus Justus — Col. 4:11. 



APPENDIX 287 



6. Onesimus— Phm. 1 :10-13. 

7. Mark— Phm. 1:24. 

8. Aristarchus — Phm. 1 :24. 

9. Demas— Phm. 1:24. 

10. Luke— Phm. 1:24. 

11. Onesiphorus— 2nd Tim. 1 :16-18. 

12. Crescens— 2nd Tim. 4 :10. 

13. Titus— 2nd Tim. 4:10. 

14. Eubulus— 2nd Tim. 4:21. 

15. Pudens— 2nd Tim. 4:21. 

16. Linus— 2nd Tim. 4:21. 

17. Claudia— 2nd Tim. 4 :21. 



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